24 Nov 2011

Research finds evidence of Indian discrimination

7:14 pm on 24 November 2011

University research has found Indians looking for work in New Zealand are often discriminated against and they struggle to get jobs that reflect their qualifications.

The study on Indian migrants to Auckland was done by Massey and Waikato universities.

Researchers carried out interviews with 20 Indian-born employees and seven employers who have arrived in Auckland since 2000.

More than 60% of those who took part in the study have a degree or higher qualification - compared with 16% of New Zealand-born Aucklanders and 34% of British migrants.

Yet less than half have a job that uses their qualification.

Three quarters had experienced discrimination in their workplace and 40% had been victims of bigotry on the streets.

One immigrant from India, Dr Sapna Samant, says she was forced on to the dole when she first arrived here.

She retrained, set up her own media production company and, now it is estabished, is working towards her New Zealand medical qualification so she can practice as a doctor here.

She says what she calls "the same old attitude" about having kiwi experience or being able to speak English or having a certain colour of skin still prevails and is, she says "irrelevant".

"What matters is respecting another human being. I don't know when that is going to happen to everybody in New Zealand."

Latest data shows India is one of only three countries from which immigration continues to grow.

The 2006 Census showed Indians make up New Zealand's second largest migrant group, behind Britain, with more than 100,000 living here.