Russia-Ukraine crisis: New Zealand offers visas to 4,000 refugees

New Zealand will offer 4,000 special visas to refugees fleeing the Russian attack on Ukraine if they have family in the southern hemisphere nation, its government said Tuesday.

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said it was New Zealand’s largest special visa category in decades in support of an international aid effort.

Over 2.8 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24, according to UN estimates.

“It’s a two-year visa to help people escape the current conflict and to shelter here in the hope they can return home when the war ends,” Faafoi said.

For one year, the estimated 1,600 Ukrainian-born citizens and residents in New Zealand will be allowed to sponsor family members for the special visa, under which they will be allowed to work.

Relatives included in the scheme include parents, grandparents and their adult siblings or adult children and their immediate family who have fled Ukraine.

“Alongside other diplomatic measures, we have acted urgently to respond to Russia’s hostility by instituting travel bans, export controls, passing the Russia Sanctions Act 2022, and providing aid funding to support crucial humanitarian work,” the minister said.