Advocates say refugees due to arrive in New Zealand from Australia and detention centres in Nauru will need to be treated with care and dignity.
Behrouz Boochani Photo: AFP
In March, Australia agreed to allow 150 refugees to resettle in Aotearoa each year over the next three years - the first could arrive in the next few months.
Australia has used offshore detention centres to process refugees since the early 2000s - a practice that has been widely criticised.
A deal to resettle some of these refugees here was negotiated by the John Key government in 2013, but never previously acted on.
Kurdish-Iranian writer and political refugee, Behrouz Boochani, was detained on Manus Island and now lives in Wellington.
He said first and foremost the refugees needed to be treated with respect.
"They have been traumatised and it is really important that people and the system treat them with dignity."
He said it was a great thing that New Zealand was doing, but he was upset that the deal did not include Manus Island refugees relocated to Port Moresby in 2019.
Asylum Seekers Support Trust president Mustafa Derbashi believed this group might need additional mental health support.
"Being detained for a long time that creates a lot of problems within the people and how they look into life and how they can process their life after that, so they need to be looked after in this particular area."
Derbashi thought they should be resettled in the main centres.
"Some people they love the bigger cities and unfortunately we have huge demand on a city like Auckland, but if that helps those people in their lives I think we should go for it."
Refugees as Survivors provides mental health and well being services to the Māngere Refugee Resettlement Centre.
Chief executive Sharron Ward said the organisation was already planning for the care this cohort of refugees might need.
"I believe they've been through quite a lot over there and I wouldn't like to comment on it politically, but there's definitely been some fallout including some possible mental problems anxiety, self-harm etc etc."
The organisation was well prepared for any challenges, Ward said.
"You know we've got a full multi-disciplinary team here. We'll literally assess the client and give the service that fits because that's what we do on a day to day basis."
Meanwhile, regardless of the challenges they still faced, Boochani said the refugees would be overjoyed to arrive in New Zealand.
"I think they come here with a great feeling, they are positive about this country, they like this country that's why they want to come here.
"And that's why I think definitely they have a good picture, a positive picture about New Zealand."
Immigration NZ said as part of the programme at Māngere a settlement plan was developed for each refugee family.
This included 12 months' support in the community in areas such as health, mental health, education and employment, and specialist support where required.
