The country’s top human rights expert is calling on the Government to urgently review an order which bans unvaccinated permanent residents from returning to New Zealand.
Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt described the rule - which allows unvaccinated citizens to come home, but blocks unvaccinated permanent residents - as “unfair,” “arbitrary” and “questionable in international human rights law”.
His comments follow pleas for help from New Zealand residents unable to return from overseas due to their vaccination status. Many have lived here for decades and are unable to return to their work, family and their homes.
Hunt supported their plea in an interview with 1News on Friday, asking the Government to “urgently revisit” its decision.
“My position is that the Government hasn't got this right,” he said.
“A blanket prohibition against all unvaccinated permanent residents, it seems to me, is not a fair and reasonable balance to have struck.”
The human rights expert said the Government had an obligation to properly balance the “competing human rights” at play. While it was important to protect the public from Covid, they also needed to consider rights like freedom of movement, he said.
READ MORE: Unvaccinated New Zealand residents stuck overseas
Circumstances had changed in New Zealand with the spread of Omicron, Hunt added.
“The Government is at risk of not conforming to international human rights law, because international human rights law provides fair and reasonable balances to be struck,” he said.
“In this case it's at least questionable that a fair reasonable balance has been struck.”
A group which calls itself The Forgotten of New Zealand has been lobbying the Government for change, highlighting cases like that of permanent resident Brigitte Van Zaal.
Van Zaal, who spent nine years in this country, was supposed to move to New Zealand on Tuesday with her husband after four years abroad.
They were initially given a spot in MIQ in February and have already shipped their belongings to New Zealand and were planning to set up a horticulture business here.
But their voucher was later cancelled in March when the Government changed the border rules and moved away from MIQ. The couple later learned that there was no pathway for them to return to New Zealand, unless they were vaccinated or managed to provide an exemption document.
“I'm still confused about how this could happen, I did every step that needed to be done, nothing has changed from our side,” Van Zaal said.
“I don't know where to go, we don't have a place to stay, we can stay a couple of days longer but after that we have to get out. So I have no clue where to go. And we only live out of two suitcases, because all the rest is in the container.”
While some have called for blanket vaccination orders for public health and support the vaccination rule, Hunt believes there should be a balance.
“It might be that the balance was appropriate some weeks or months ago, but things have changed,” he said.
“This means that they have to revisit the balance between competing human rights - the balance must be fair and reasonable - and I urge the government to urgently revisit this balance.”
In a statement on Friday, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the Government had changed the rules for citizens as "under the New Zealand Bill of Rights they have a right to return home whether they are vaccinated or not".
However, he said border rules were "constantly being reviewed"
"I expect an update from officials in the very near future."
In the meantime, Hunt is making his views very clear.
“I think that permanent residents should be allowed home."
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