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NZ’s Human Rights Record Stained by Child Poverty, Lack of Investment in its Young: Amnesty International; UNICEF and OECD

May 23, 2013 Leave a comment

Amnesty International Report 2013

270,000 children, yes 270,000, children are now living in poverty in New Zealand, a country infamous for its low wage culture.

 

New Zealand’s high level of child poverty, violence against women and a proposed law affecting asylum seekers came under fire in Amnesty International’s Annual Report on the state of the world’s human rights.

New Zealand faces most criticism within the country for its high levels of child poverty, according to Grant Bayldon, Executive Director of Amnesty International in New Zealand.

“The mention of up to 270,000 children living in poverty in this global report is a stain on New Zealand’s human rights record.

It further reinforces the need for New Zealand to protect and respect all human rights in New Zealand law.

“States have obligations to protect, respect and fulfill (sic) rights for all people, for those living in poverty, and also asylum seekers and refugees.

As an important voice for human rights protections on the international stage, the New Zealand Government needs to ensure that all actions taken look to respect all human rights, of all people.

“Human rights are not just about freedom from oppression, they’re also about access to education, healthcare, and adequate housing, and such widespread child poverty in New Zealand is a human rights issue.”

Mr Bayldon said New Zealand had signed up to international covenants on these rights but had not put them into law. Adding them to the Bill of Rights would provide a measuring stick for new laws and policies…

Also criticised was the Immigration Amendment (Mass Arrivals) Bill, which would allow for indefinite detention of asylum-seekers arriving by boat in groups of more than 10 people… ” read the full article about the report here http://www.amnesty.org.nz/news/annual-report-2013

New Zealand recently fell to 18th place in an international league table for best country to be a mother, perhaps a reflection of its high number of preventable child deaths. (3rd highest according to UNICEF)

In 2009 (OECD Report Citical of NZ Child Welfare Spending) we wrote about how New Zealand was sixth in that year’s best mum table, despite other data showing that children in this country were more disadvantaged than many other key countries in the developed world.

A UNICEF report published last month also criticised New Zealand’s record forchild wellbeing across a variety of measures, including ranking it 21st out of 35 developed countries for levels of child poverty.

New Zealand’s Childrens commissioner, Russel Wills, said

“We should reallocate resources and direct that resource to the most vulnerable and youngest children.”

New Zealand ranked above Italy and Canada but below Britain and Australia. It was almost bottom – 32nd of 34 – for young people not in any form of education, training or employment.”

New Zealand’s under investment in its young is now beginning to be reflected in the very surveys it used to be so proud of, including a poor showing in the Amnesty International’s International Report 2013 and the UNICEF report.

Considering emigrating to New Zealand because it’s such a great place for kids? you may like to think again.

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Categories: New Zealand Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hamilton’s “Worst Burglary in a Decade” – Kids Responsible: “Blood Gang Fck the Law”

May 22, 2013 1 comment
youth gangs are a problem in New Zealand

youth gangs are a problem in New Zealand

A gang of 12 and 13 year old thugs are responsible for the worst burglary police in Hamilton have seen in a decade. The gang broke into the home of mother of two, Candy Atkinson, whilst she was out last week.

When Candy returned with her three young children she found her home had been burgled and the TV, Playstation and her other possessions were missing. She left to raise the alarm and came back a couple of hours later to find it had since been destroyed.

It was completely ransacked and vandalised.

You can see the shocking video here http://www.3news.co.nz/Burglars-target-home-twice-in-one-night/tabid/309/articleID/298081/Default.aspx. Whole rooms were turned over, food,  paint and other material  smeared over the floor & walls. Candy’s children’s toys chucked into the fireplace. Above the fireplace the words “Blood gang fck the law” were scrawled in pen on the wall.

In a press release issued today they said they had identified four boys aged 12-13 who they think may be responsible. In a press report that fastidiously avoided using the word “gang” they said

Offenders identified in Hamilton’s worst burglary in a decade

“A week on from what Hamilton Police described as the worst burglary they had seen in a decade, a young mother and her children still can’t sleep, despite Police identifying those responsible.

Hamilton City Tactical Coordinator, Senior Sergeant Freda Grace, said a week on from last Tuesday’s home invasion mother Candy Atkinson and her three young children were still cleaning up the mess.

“When Candy and her three children, aged seven, 11 and 12, arrived home that night a door left open was the first indicator something was amiss.

“Leaving the kids in the car she went in to investigate and found her home in a state that no one should have to witness. The interior was just horrible with food thrown all around and liquid poured everywhere, one of our experienced crime scene investigators described the scene as heartbreaking.”

Following media coverage of the damage to the family’s home Police began to build up a picture of what had happened and who was responsible.

 ”Four boys aged 12-13-years-old have been identified and are being dealt with through Youth Aid.
Blood Gang
We’ve written about Hamilton’s Blood Gang before. In July 2010 a  teenager stabbed to death another youth during a street fight between rival youth gangs in Hamilton. He walked free from court. Jurors were told the defendant was a Crips gang associate, his younger  brother, and two others were  confronted by Bloods gang members. link.
Youth membership of gangs is part of a disturbing trend both in the Waikato and across New Zealand. According to a researchers at Waikato University, it is because of what society expects of them.

Boys as young as nine are joining gangs, not for money and the lifestyle, but because they believe it’s what society expects of them.

The new research shows young men feel as if their teachers, families and communities have no faith in their abilities, so they turn to youth gangs for support.

As part of a 2011 study on the motivations behind gang membership, clinical psychology student Sarah Campbell interviewed seven young men who had been in a “crew”.

“They were very aware of the stereotypes in their environment and they lived up to them,” said Campbell, who based her masters thesis on the research.

“From what they were saying, they don’t seem to fit within society so they go and joined a group of young people who understand their situation.”

Campbell’s thesis identified five main factors that influenced and maintained the boys’ desire for youth gang membership: friends or family, money, a desire to participate in anti-social behaviour,  neighbourhood surroundings and the negative reactions of others.

Although some of those factors were well-documented, the idea that gang membership was a “self-fulfilling prophecy” was fairly new, Campbell said.

The study quotes directly from the young men, all aged between 16 and 23, who had belonged to Hamilton gangs from as young as nine…” read more of the report here No choice but to take Bloods ties

We’ve said before and have no problem with saying it again: it takes the village to raise a child, the village is failing them in New Zealand.

It is hard working, honest people like Candy Atkinson who are being left to pick up the pieces of a failing society.

Further reading

Elderly Chinese Tourists Robbed at Knifepoint in Hamilton “…this was the just latest in a string of armed robberies in Hamilton.  On 4 March a woman was robbed at gunpoint whilst walking along the bank of the Waikato river…”

Kids In New Zealand, The Village Lets Them Down “…parents and caregivers in Whangarei are said to be organising fights between their kids to sort out petty playground squabbles…”

Kaikoura Youths Embarrass Town Again & Another ‘Once Were Warriors’ Upbringing ”…But the drunken violence in Kaikoura was just part of a much wider problem New Zealand has with alcohol fuelled mayhem…”

All posts tagged:  Gangs

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Categories: New Zealand Tags: , , , , ,

China Blockades New Zealand Meat, Grey Export Market to Blame?

May 20, 2013 Leave a comment

Exports of 100 million dollars worth of Zealand beef, mutton and lamb are being detained at the Chinese border due to what NZ authorities are calling a “certification error”.

The public are being told that tonnes of frozen meat have been held up for the last month, supposedly because of the name change of a NZ government department. Strangely, other NZ dairy products, such as dairy, have not been affected by the “certification error”, just meat.

In March there was a change on the name of safety documentation that replaced the former Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry with the re-branded Ministry for Primary Industries. But, it has taken until now for the Chinese to refuse to take delivery of the produce. “Our government has known for days but has been keeping quiet” according to a news channel that broke the story Link

Protectionism
Despite the huge amount of spin coming out of New Zealand some sites are saying there may be another reason for the blockade

A top meat industry source said this was being used by Chinese authorities as an excuse to protect local pork and poultry industries.

The source noted that the industry merger was completed in April 2012 and that China had continued to allow imports of both dairy products and beef hides throughout the meat block…

Labour primary industries spokesman Damien O’Connor said the issue followed an ‘‘inadequate’’ response to the DCD scare by the Government.

‘‘National has sat on this issue for almost a month when it should have moved swiftly to rectify the problem, reassure the meat industry and satisfy the Chinese Customs Service.’’

China seized Kiwi meat
Last year China seized Kiwi meat on a crackdown on grey exports, which may explain why it has become a stickler for proper certification. She’ll be right attitudes,and good enough will do, will no longer be tolerated. It looks like the NZ government has been caught napping on the Job.

On June 12, Chinese authorities descended on an inbound ship, seizing more than 1800 metric tons of frozen goods. Five crew members were put in detention by Shenzhen Customs.

The 60-container cargo was described as including beef, chicken wings and pork from the United States, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.

Beef and Lamb New Zealand’s general manager of market development Craig Finch said it was impossible to know how much NZ meat was involved or indeed how much finds its way into China each year through illicit channels. However, the overall trade is big… Source

DCD in milk scare
Also last year! New Zealand milk was the subject of a safety scare in China when milk powder with the melamine-related chemical Dicyandiamide, or DCD–a substance that in high doses is toxic to humans, was detected.

There was a significant delay before this information was released and a list of the affected products and batch numbers was never made public. For more about that read WSJ blows the lid on Fonterra tainted milk scandal NZ government knew months ago.

This latest problem with meat exports is going to do little to bolster confidence in New Zealand food products and the government needs to get it sorted out pronto, because the longer it goes on the more the NZ meat industry is going to lose market share.

Categories: New Zealand Tags: , , , , ,

“Welcome to New Zealand?”

May 20, 2013 Leave a comment

NZ news outlet Stuff is calling for submissions to its citizen journalist project. The present assignment is named “Welcome to New Zealand?” with the following instruction,

“The face of New Zealand is constantly changing as new families arrive on our shores.

But what is the experience of arriving and setting up life in New Zealand really like?

We want to hear from immigrant families and individuals who have made New Zealand their home.

Why did you move here? Was it easy to adjust to the Kiwi way of life, or did the culture come as a bit of a shock?…” Read the rest of the assignments here

Predictably enough, the first published response was one telling New Zealanders how luck they are, and written by British immigrant Jonathan Bird.

If you want to contribute to the assignment visit the link above. We shall be keeping watch on the project and looking at what people are writing. If you want to make a submission send us a copy too, that way we can compare what is sent in and what is published.

We constantly hear from immigrant families, look at our comments section to see what they’re saying.

If you are thinking about emigrating to New Zealand you should take a look at our
Migrant Tales series – well over 100 personal stories of emigration to New Zealand, suggesting the country does not live up to expectations.

Join our subscribers if you want to keep up to date with them.

Categories: New Zealand Tags: , ,

Migrant Tales – New Zealand is a Dump

May 19, 2013 21 comments

Continuing in our series of Migrant Tales, first hand accounts of the migrant experience of New Zealand taken from locations around the net.

Today’s tale was first published on the only uncensored, not for profit immigration forum – expatexposed.com.

If you would like to tell your own migrant story please leave one, either on that site or in our comments section.

New Zealand Is A Dump!

Posted: Wed May 02.
I live in New Zealand, a country in the Antipodes, and here is my Top Ten list of things I hate about New Zealand, starting at number Ten and counting down.

10. The Weather – It constantly changes. If it rains it is extremely grey and gloomy. If it is sunny it burns.

9. The Hole In The Ozone Layer – Thanks to industrial countries like Germany and the United States, we have a great big hole hanging over our heads which exposes us to the harmful rays of the sun. I go outside for two minutes and I am severly sunburnt.

8. The Government – their policy is to keep kicking you until you are down.

7. New Zealand Law – You get fined for everything here!!!

6. The AllBlacks (NZ’s Rugby Team) – they symbolise everything I hate, beer belching idiots, idolising maniacal baboons undertaking homo-erotic acts.

5. The People – The people here are soooooooooooo dumb. A chimpanzee has more intelligence. They are all drunk and stoned, and therefore have no brains or ambition in life.

4. The Traffic – I live in Auckland, we only have a population of around 1 million, but the traffic here is horrendous. The Public Transport system sucks, you have to catch two different buses to get 5 minutes down the road, and don’t even talk about the trains …. India’s are more glamourous.

3. The Drivers – they all need thick glasses – they are blind,there are so many accidents here, and the bus drivers try and squash you with the bus. I’ve lost count with how many times I’ve almost been crushed by a bus.

2. The Lack of Opportunity – the population is too small, so no matter what you do, it is unsustainable.

My number one on the list of things I hate about New Zealand is ………….

THE FACT IT HAS NO MONEY SO I CAN’T GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Categories: New Zealand Tags:
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