Tauranga law student Maher Azzam spends many nights trawling through images of dead bodies in Gaza desperately looking for his parents.
“Every time I lose (internet) connection with my family I have to go to the footage of dead people and start looking at their faces so I can recognise if that's one of my family or not,” he tells Breakfast.
“Every time I look and one of these faces I find I know this person because Gaza is so small - three times as small as Auckland.”
Maher’s family are still alive – but he fears they could die any minute. He’s desperate to bring his elderly parents to safety in New Zealand.
For his Kiwi wife Tessa Templeton, who grew up in Christchurch, watching Maher’s pain is heart-breaking.
“To see him going through this, there's not a lot of words that can be said to console him in this situation,” she says.
“I know personally if I don't hear from my family I worry about them so the worry that he is experiencing all of the time is something that I can't even imagine."
Maher, 28, grew up in Gaza. He came to New Zealand just over a year ago to be with Tessa.
"I'm here because I have a very strong connection to New Zealand,” he says.
“I have my other family here; I have my wife and her family which is my family, and my family is her family."
Maher grew up in a large home near Gaza City with his nine siblings and parents. He’s lived through six conflicts, but during peaceful times it was a happy childhood surrounded by family.
"Going into Gaza... first of all you feel the warmth of people, the connection between people, and all these beautiful places you can go and hang out with your friends in Gaza."
Now the family home Maher’s father spent 50 years slowly building is destroyed – by fire, by bombs – they’re not sure.
Maher’s parents, who are in their late 60s and early 70s, seven of his siblings and many nieces and nephews thankfully fled before the damage.
"Everyone knows that Gaza is a war-torn city but I lived six wars in Gaza - because I lived most of my life in Gaza - but I never experienced something like that,” Maher says.
“Not only my parents but my family and everyone in Gaza is surviving death a thousand times every day.”
Their reality is in stark contrast to Maher’s life in New Zealand. All of his family, including the children, sleep on the floor of a makeshift tent in the southern area of Al-Mawasi. Like so many, they are desperate for the basics – food and water are scarce.
“So it's not only a war of bombs, it's a war of food, water and even finding a shelter,” Maher says.
He’s desperate to bring his family to New Zealand, in particular his elderly parents. He says it’s life and death.
Maher’s urging Immigration Minister Erica Stanford to grant visas to the families of Palestinian New Zealanders trapped in Gaza, similar to what is being offered to the families of Ukrainian New Zealanders.
“I urge the New Zealand government to meet its ethical and humanitarian commitments to establish a special visa category for Gazans who are in Gaza and are relatives, to facilitate their exit safely to New Zealand,” Maher says.
And this message from his wife Tessa: "I know this isn't the Kiwi way what we are seeing now, I know we are better than this. I know we have so much empathy and compassion for people going through tough situations and there is a way we can help and I really want to see our government take those steps. Step up and do what's right for our families."
Minister Stanford told Breakfast in a statement: “The Government’s focus at the moment is on humanitarian support. New Zealanders with family in Gaza, can apply for a visitor visa for them. Immigration New Zealand is prioritising requests for Palestinians.
"A visa is not something that we're ruling out and we will consider it. We are monitoring the situation. I am receiving regular updates and have been advised that Immigration New Zealand can implement a special visa quickly if and when required.”
Katrina Mitchell-Kouttab – a Palestinian from the New Zealand Arab Association – told Breakfast on Monday she wants the government to create a special humanitarian visa for NZ-Palestinians and their families. She’s also calling for consular support from New Zealand diplomats for those trying to cross the border.
Currently, it’s almost impossible for Palestinians to get out of the Gaza Strip.
“At the Rafah crossing, even if they’ve paid their visa, and even if they’ve paid their crossing fee, Israel is stopping them from coming through,” Mitchell-Kouttab said of the current situation.
Mitchell-Kouttab called out Immigration Minister Erica Stanford, accusing her of double standards by not issuing special visas to those with family in New Zealand.
She said Stanford reacted differently when Ukraine was invaded in early 2022.
“We are aware that Erica Stanford, in opposition, was criticising the [Labour-led] government after 14 days for not allowing these visas.
“Well, it’s been 150 days. Bombs are not just falling on Palestinians, but they are dying of starvation and dehydration.”
She asked the minister: “What is she waiting for? And why are there these double standards?”
Mitchell-Kouttab said around 40 families in New Zealand are seeking to have 400 family members evacuated from the warzone.
Immigration New Zealand operations support manager Sarah Watson says the government is continuing to monitor the situation in Gaza.
“New Zealand are supporting the humanitarian efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Food Programme (WFP) to address the urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza,” she said.
“New Zealand is a small country and there are limitations on how many people we can support given our capacity constraints. The primary way New Zealand provides support for international refugee situations is through the Refugee Quota, with an annual quota of 1500 people per annum. Refugees accepted through the Refugee Quota are referred to us by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. We also contribute to international peacekeeping and disarmament and to funding humanitarian aid through the United Nations and NGOs.”
“Ukraine was a unique situation given the size, scale and nature of the conflict, and the fact that the UNHCR was unable to refer people to New Zealand through our refugee quota, which meant there were no existing pathways for Ukrainian refugees. Afghanistan was also another situation where unique circumstances required a targeted approach as Afghan nationals were at risk of harm due to their work for the New Zealand Defence Force and other agencies in Afghanistan.”
Maher and Tessa have created a Givealittle page to raise funds to bring Maher’s parents to New Zealand. This is to cover the cost of border crossings, flights and other expenses.
SHARE ME