Commemorative booklet on Mangere to mark World Refugee Day
Media Release
17 June 2010
A commemorative booklet on the history of the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre has been produced by the Department of Labour to mark World Refugee Day on Sunday, 20 June.
The booklet, “Mangere: First Steps to a New Future”, will be launched at the Centre by the Department’s head of Refugee and Migrant Settlement, Stephen Dunstan.
This year’s World Refugee Day has as its theme “Home” in recognition of the plight of more than 40 million uprooted and homeless people around the world.
“It’s particularly apt that the booklet is being launched with home as the theme of this year’s World Refugee Day,” Mr Dunstan says. “Mangere is home to everyone who comes to New Zealand under the refugee quota programme for their first six weeks.
“Mangere helps refugees get the English language skills and information they need to settle in New Zealand so we thought a booklet to chronicle the history of Mangere would be a good idea.”
As well as chronicling the history of Mangere from it first becoming an immigration hostel in 1953, the booklet also includes reflections from 13 former residents.
The programme of events at Mangere to mark World Refugee Day also includes a symbolic planting of a Kauri tree.
Auckland MPs, Tainui, local mayors and council representatives and local refugee communities have all been invited to the launch.
