RefNZ StatisticsNew Zealand Refugee Statistics
Last updated: 6 November 2008RefNZ Statistics provides key New Zealand refugee statistics. The statistics are listed in the Index below. Unless otherwise stated, the statistics have been obtained under the Official Information Act 1982. Further statistics will be added as they become available. Use the Index to link to statistics of interest.
Refugee Status Branch: General Statistics
Index Table 1: The number of people arriving at New Zealand airports and indicating a wish to apply for refugee status (spontaneous refugees) in the calendar years from 1991 to 1996 and the financial years from 1997/98 to 2007/2008.Refugee Status Branch:Statistics by NationalityTable 2: The number of refugee status applications submitted to the Refugee Status Branch in the financial years from 1990/91 to 2007/2008.
Table 3: The number of refugee status applications determined, and the number of applications and people approved and declined by the Refugee Status Branch during the financial years from 1992/93 to 2007/2008.
Table 4: Number of applications lodged with the Refugee Status Branch per client during the period 01 July 1999 to 30 June 2005.
Table 5: Five countries with the highest number of refugee status applications filed with the Refugee Status Branch during the financial years from 1990/91 to 2007/2008.Refugee Status Branch: Statistics by GenderTable 6: Five countries with the highest number of refugee status applications approved by the Refugee Status Branch during the financial years from 1992/93 to 2007/2008.
Table 7: Five countries with the highest number of refugee status applications declined by the Refugee Status Branch during the financial years from 1992/93 to 2007/2008.
Table 8: Breakdown by gender of the applications received by the Refugee Status Branch in the financial years from 1997/98 to 2007/2008.Table 9: Breakdown by gender of the applications approved by the Refugee Status Branch in the financial years from 1997/98 to 2007/2008.
Table 10: Breakdown by gender of the applications declined by the Refugee Status Branch in the financial years from 1997/98 to 2007/2008.
Table 11: Breakdown of success rates by gender as a percentage of the both successful applications and total applications decided by the Refugee Status Branch in the financial years from 1997/98 to 2007/2008.
Refugee Status Appeals Authority: General Statistics
Table 12: The number of appeals received, withdrawn, heard, published and finalised by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, including the number of outstanding appeals, in the financial years from 1991/92 to 2008/2009.Refugee Status Appeals Authority: Statistics by NationalityTable 13: The number and percentage of refugee status appeal applications declined and allowed by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority for the financial years from 1991/92 to 2008/2009.
Table 14: Breakdown of decisions published by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority into categories of standard claims, non-appearance, manifestly unfounded claims, second appeals and third appeals for the financial years from 1998/99 to 2008/09.
Table 15: The number of decisions published by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority by nationality, including the number of decisions allowed, dismissed, non-appearance, manifestly unfounded, second appeals and third appeals in the 1998/99 financial year.Table 16: The number of decisions published by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority by nationality, including the number of decisions allowed, dismissed, non-appearance, manifestly unfounded, second appeals and third appeals in the 1999/2000 financial year.Table 17: The number of decisions published by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority by nationality, including the number of decisions allowed, dismissed, non-appearance, manifestly unfounded, second appeals and third appeals in the 2000/2001 financial year.Refugee Status Appeals Authority: Statistics by GenderTable 18: The number of decisions published by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority by nationality, including the number of decisions allowed, dismissed, non-appearance, manifestly unfounded, second appeals and third appeals in the 2001/2002 financial year.
Table 19: The number of decisions published by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority by nationality, including the number of decisions allowed, dismissed, non-appearance, manifestly unfounded, second appeals and third appeals in the 2002/2003 financial year.
Table 20: The number of decisions published by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority by nationality, including the number of decisions allowed, dismissed, non-appearance, manifestly unfounded, second appeals and third appeals in the 2003/2004 financial year.
Table 21: The number of decisions published by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority by nationality, including the number of decisions allowed, dismissed, non-appearance, manifestly unfounded, second appeals and third appeals in the 2004/2005 financial year.
Table 22: The number of decisions published by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority by nationality, including the number of decisions allowed, dismissed, non-appearance, manifestly unfounded, second appeals and third appeals in the 2005/2006 financial year.
Table 23: The number of decisions published by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority by nationality, including the number of decisions allowed, dismissed, non-appearance, manifestly unfounded, second appeals and third appeals in the 2006/2007 financial year.
Table 24: The number of decisions published by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority by nationality, including the number of decisions allowed, dismissed, non-appearance, manifestly unfounded, second appeals and third appeals in the 2007/2008 financial year.
Table 25: The number of decisions published by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority by nationality, including the number of decisions allowed, dismissed, non-appearance, manifestly unfounded, second appeals and third appeals in the 2008/2009 financial year.
Table 26: Top three countries with the highest number of appeals submitted in the financial years from 1998/99 to 2008/09.
Table 27: Top three countries with the highest number of appeals allowed by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the financial years from 1998/99 to 2008/09.
Table 28: Top three countries with the highest number of appeals dismissed by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the financial years from 1998/99 to 2008/09.
Table 29: Top three countries with the highest number of manifestly unfounded appeals determined by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the financial years from 1998/99 to 2008/09.
Table 30: Number of decisions published by nationality and gender, including a breakdown of appeal applications allowed and declined, by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 1998/99 financial year.Table 31: Number of decisions published by nationality and gender, including a breakdown of appeal applications allowed and declined, by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 1999/2000 financial year.Refugee Status Appeals Authority: Child ApplicantsTable 32: Number of decisions published by nationality and gender, including a breakdown of appeal applications allowed and declined, by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2000/01 financial year.
Table 33: Number of decisions published by nationality and gender, including a breakdown of appeal applications allowed and declined, by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2001/02 financial year.
Table 34: Number of decisions published by nationality and gender, including a breakdown of appeal applications allowed and declined, by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2002/03 financial year.
Table 35: Number of decisions published by nationality and gender, including a breakdown of appeal applications allowed and declined, by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2003/04 financial year.
Table 36: Number of decisions published by nationality and gender, including a breakdown of appeal applications allowed and declined, by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2004/05 financial year.
Table 37: Number of decisions published by nationality and gender, including a breakdown of appeal applications allowed and declined, by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2005/06 financial year.
Table 38: Number of decisions published by nationality and gender, including a breakdown of appeal applications allowed and declined, by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2006/07 financial year.
Table 39: Number of decisions published by nationality and gender, including a breakdown of appeal applications allowed and declined, by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2007/08 financial year.
Table 40: Top three countries, by gender, with the highest number of appeals submitted to the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the financial years from 1998/99 to 2007/08.
Table 41: Top three countries, by gender, with the highest number of appeals allowed by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the financial years from 1998/99 to 2007/08.
Table 42: Top three countries, by gender, with the highest number of appeals declined by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the financial years from 1998/99 to 2007/08.
Table 43: Breakdown of success rates by gender as a percentage of both successful appeals and total appeals decided in the financial years from 1998/99 to 2007/08.
Table 44: Child appellants in the Refugee Status appeals Authority, including their nationality, gender and decision outcome in the 1998/99 financial year.Refugee Status Appeals Authority: Article 1F ExclusionTable 45: Child appellants in the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, including their nationality, gender and decision outcome in the 1999/2000 financial year.
Table 46: Child appellants in the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, including their nationality, gender and decision outcome in the 2000/2001 financial year.
Table 47: Child appellants in the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, including their nationality, gender and decision outcome in the 2001/2002 financial year.
Table 48: Child appellants in the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, including their nationality, gender and decision outcome in the 2002/2003 financial year.
Table 49: Child appellants in the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, including their nationality, gender and decision outcome in the 2003/2004 financial year.
Table 50: Child appellants in the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, including their nationality, gender and decision outcome in the 2004/2005 financial year.
Table 51: Child appellants in the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, including their nationality, gender and decision outcome in the 2005/2006 financial year.
Table 52: Child appellants in the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, including their nationality, gender and decision outcome in the 2006/2007 financial year.
Table 53: Child appellants in the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, including their nationality, gender and decision outcome in the 2007/2008 financial year.
Table 54: Breakdown by nationality of Article 1F exclusion decisions of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 1998/99 financial year.Table 55: Breakdown by nationality of Article 1F exclusion decisions of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 1999/2000 financial year.
Table 56: Breakdown by nationality of Article 1F exclusion decisions of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2000/2001 financial year.
Table 57: Breakdown by nationality of Article 1F exclusion decisions of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2001/2002 financial year.
Table 58: Breakdown by nationality of Article 1F exclusion decisions of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2002/2003 financial year.
Table 59: Breakdown by nationality of Article 1F exclusion decisions of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2003/2004 financial year.
Table 60: Breakdown by nationality of Article 1F exclusion decisions of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2004/2005 financial year.
Table 61: Breakdown by nationality of Article 1F exclusion decisions of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2005/2006 financial year.
Table 62: Breakdown by nationality of Article 1F exclusion decisions of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2006/2007 financial year.
Table 63: Breakdown by nationality of Article 1F exclusion decisions of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in the 2007/2008 financial year.
Judicial Review
Table 64: Analysis of the outcomes of judicial review applications filed in the High Court in the financial years from 1998/99 to 2007/2008.
United Nations Refugee Quota Programme
Table 65: Breakdown by nationality of people granted residence in New Zealand under the United Nations Refugee Quota programme in the financial years from 1979/80 to 1989/90.Table 66: Breakdown by nationality of people granted residence in New Zealand under the United Nations Refugee Quota Programme in the financial years from 1990/91 to 2007/2008.
Expulsion Statistics
Table 67: The number of people refused entry to New Zealand and turned around at airports in the calendar years from 1991 to 1995 and the financial years from 1996/97 to 2007/08.Table 68: Breakdown by nationality of people refused entry to New Zealand and turned around at airports in the financial years from 1997/98 to 2007/08.
Table 69: Three countries with the highest number of nationals refused entry and turned around upon arrival at a New Zealand airport in the financial years from 1997/98 to 2007/08.
Table 70: The number of removal orders served, and the number of people removed as a result of removal orders executed, including those declined refugee status, and voluntary departures during the calendar years from 1993 to 1995 and the financial years from 1996/97 to 2007/08.
Table 71: Number of officers employed by the New Zealand Immigration Service to enforce border control in the calendar/financial years from 1997 to 2008.
Table 72: Number of overstayers in New Zealand as assessed at given dates in the years 1991 to 2008.
Table 73: Estimated numbers of overstayers by nationality as at 30 April 2008 in descending rank.
Refugee Status Branch: General Statistics Table 1: The number of people arriving at New Zealand airports and indicating a wish to apply for refugee status (spontaneous refugees) in the calendar years from 1991 to 1996 and the financial years from 1997/1998 to 2007/2008.[1]
Year Number of Persons 1991 184 1992 215 1993 103 1994 88 1995 175 1996 280 1997/98 299 1998/99 342 1999/2000 292 2000/01 262 2001/02 241 2002/03
249
2003/04
135
2004/05
91
2005/06
84
2006/07
50
2007/08
26
Table 2: The number of refugee status applications submitted to the Refugee Status Branch in the financial years from 1990/91 to 2007/2008.[2]
Financial Year Applications
received by RSB1990/91 901 1991/92 1124 1992/93 541 1993/94 382 1994/95 641 1995/96 1064 1996/97 1534 1997/98 1784 1998/99 2019 1999/2000 1409 2000/01 1703 2001/02 1441 2002/03
955
2003/04
713
2004/05
399
2005/06
317
2006/07
244
2007/08
267
Table 3: The number of refugee status applications determined, and the number of applications and people approved and declined by the Refugee Status Branch during the financial years from 1992/93 to 2007/2008.[3]
Decisions made Applications approved % Applications Approved People approved Applications declined % Applications Declined People declined 1992/93 1268 95 7.5% 128 1173 92.5% 1543 1993/94 416 27 6.5% 68 389 93.5% 638 1994/95 284 76 26.8% 134 208 73.2% 293 1995/96 565 87 15.4% 147 478 84.6% 793 1996/97 679 105 15.5% 180 574 84.5% 1060 1997/98 768 134 17.4% 275 634 82.6% 1055 1998/99 1595 234 14.7% 538 1361 85.3% 2182 1999/2000 1955 310 15.9% 473 1645 84.1% 1967 2000/01 2348 311 13.2% 312 2037 86.8% 2104 2001/02
2608
631
24.2%
650
1977
75.8%
2104
2002/03
1289
247
19.2%
-
1042
80.8%
-
2003/04
801
115
14.4%
-
686
85.6%
-
2004/05
499
81
16.2%
-
418
83.8%
-
2005/06
340
68
20%
-
272
80%
-
2006/07
271
66
24.4%
-
205
75.6%
-
2007/08
275
81
29.5%
-
194
70.5%
-
Table 4: Number of applications lodged with the Refugee Status Branch per client during the period 01 July 1999 to 30 June 2005.
Number of applications lodged per client Number of clients 1 5453 2 382 3 87 4 35 5 10 Total 5967
Refugee Status Branch: Statistics by Nationality Table 5: Five countries with the highest number of refugee status applications filed with the Refugee Status Branch during the financial years from 1990/91 to 2007/2008.[4]
Year 1 2 3 4 5 1990/91 India (503) China (124) Bangladesh (70) Iran (46) Sri Lanka (39) 1991/92 China (481) India (324) Iran (108) Sri Lanka (41) Peru (24) 1992/93 India (167) China (158) Iran (55) Peru (26) Bulgaria/ Russia (16) 1993/94 China/ India (91) - Iran (38) Bangladesh (25) Russia (24) 1994/95 India (206) Russia (126) China (37) Somalia (23) Sri Lanka (22) 1995/96 India (252) China (226) Russia (154) Iran (104) Somalia (34) 1996/97 China (663) India (183) Russia (110) Iran (87) Fiji (66) 1997/98 China (363) South Korea (174) India (168) Indonesia (120) Vietnam (100) 1998/99 Indonesia (504) Thailand (221) China (217) India (151) Sri Lanka (115) 1999/2000 Thailand (200) India (140) Czech Rep (124) Sri Lanka (119) Iran (112) 2000/01 Thailand (455) Iran (138) Sri Lanka (126) Czech Rep (123) Zimbabwe (95) 2001/02 Thailand (427) Afghanistan (137) Iran (104) India (85) Zimbabwe (75) 2002/03
Thailand (219)
Iran (148)
India (106)
Zimbabwe (101)
Hungary (81)
2003/04
Iran (106)
India (95)
Thailand (67)
China (62)
Bangladesh (36)
2004/05
Iran (66)
China (30)
India (30)
Chile (23)
Czech Republic (23)
2005/06
Iran (31)
Iraq (28)
Bangladesh (23)
India (20)
Czech Republic (20)
2006/07
China (38)
Iran (32)
Iraq (28)
Sri Lanka (19)
Bangladesh (17)
2007/08
Iraq (46)
Sri Lanka (36) Iran (22)
China (16)
Malaysia (11)
Table 6: Five countries with the highest number of refugee status applications approved by the Refugee Status Branch during the financial years from 1992/93 to 2007/2008.
Year 1 2 3 4 5 1992/93 China (31) Iran (20) Sri Lanka (6) India (5) Philippines (3) 1993/94 Iran (5) Ghana/ Somalia (3) - Afghanistan (4) Bangladesh/India/ Zaire (2) 1994/95 Somalia (10) Sri Lanka/ Iran (9) - Philippines/ Afghanistan (5) - 1995/96 Iran (15) India (11) Afghanistan (7) Somalia (6) Ghana/Nigeria/ Rwanda (5) 1996/97 Iran (22) Somalia (14) Iraq (8) India/Libya (6) - 1997/98 Iran/ Sri Lanka (28) - Ethiopia (11) Iraq/Somalia (10) - 1998/99 Sri Lanka (48) Afghanistan (39) Iran (31) Somalia (22) India (11) 1999/2000 Sri Lanka (85) Iran (67) Afghanistan (67) Somalia (25) Iraq (10) 2000/01 Sri Lanka (87) Iran (85) China (25) Iraq (24) Kuwait (13) 2001/02 Afghanistan (157) Iran (152) Sri Lanka (83) Iraq (73) Kuwait (31) 2002/03
Iran (88)
Zimbabwe (33)
Sri Lanka (23)
Iraq (22)
Somalia (17)
2003/04
Iran (39)
Zimbabwe (24)
Somalia (9)
Syria (7)
Libya (6)
2004/05
Iran (22)
Myanmar (9)
Iraq (9)
Syria (8)
Jordan (6)
2005/06
Iraq (18)
Iran (11)
Myanmar (6)
Zimbabwe (6)
China/Egypt (4)
2006/07
Iraq (23)
China (19)
Sri Lanka (6)
Iran (6)
Myanmar (4)
2007/08
Iraq (35)
China (11)
Sri Lanka (11)
Zimbabwe (6)
Myanmar (4)
Table 7: Five countries with the highest number of refugee status applications declined by the Refugee Status Branch during the financial years from 1992/93 to 2007/2008.
Year 1 2 3 4 5 1992/93 China (464) India (442) Iran (87) Sri Lanka (35) Philippines (21) 1993/94 China (112) India (88) Iran (39) Philippines (16) Bangladesh/Bulgaria (15) 1994/95 India (57) China (59) Rwanda (18) Bangladesh (13) Philippines (10) 1995/96 India (252) Rwanda (61) China (28) Iran (26) Philippines (15) 1996/97 China (155) India (130) Fiji (42) Rwanda (41) Iran (34) 1997/98 China (121) Fiji (109) India (103) South Korea (53) Iran (33) 1998/99 China (318) South Korea (142) Indonesia (118) Thailand (110) Vietnam (96) 1999/2000 China (422) Indonesia (349) India (127) Malaysia (105) Thailand (63) 2000/01 Thailand (475) China (196) India (121) Indonesia (93) Malaysia (56) 2001/02 Thailand (408) India (197) China (136) Czech Rep (135) Sri Lanka (93) 2002/03
Thailand (218)
India (106)
Hungary (81)
Zimbabwe (68)
Iran (60)
2003/04
India (85)
Thailand (83)
Iran (75)
China (52)
Bangladesh (35)
2004/05
Iran (75)
India (66)
China (38)
Chile (25)
Bangladesh (21)
2005/06
Czech Republic (27)
Iran (25)
Bangladesh (25)
Nepal (17)
Fiji (16)
2006/07
Iran (26)
Sri Lanka (20)
China (17)
India (13)
Pakistan (12)
2007/08
Sri Lanka (23)
Iran (19)
China (15)
Fiji (11)
Malaysia (11)
Refugee Status Branch: Statistics by Gender Table 8: Breakdown by gender of the applications received by the Refugee Status Branch in the financial years from 1997/98 to 2007/2008.
1997/98 (%) 1998/99 (%) 1999/2000 (%) 2000/01 (%) 2001/02
(%)2002/03 (%)
2003/04 (%)
2004/05 (%)
2005/06 (%)
2006/07 (%)
2007/08 (%)
Male 1305 (73.2%) 1393 (69%) 955 (67.8%) 1079 (62.7%) 948 (65%) 637 (66.8%)
498 (69.7%)
334 (66.9%)
227 (66.8%)
163 (66.8%)
145 (61.2%)
Female 458 (25.7%) 623 (30.8%) 449 (31.9%) 638 (37.1%) 507 (35%) 316 (33.2%)
216 (30.3%)
165 (33.1%)
113 (33.2%)
81 (33.2%)
92 (38.8%)
Unknown 20 (1%) 4 (0.2%) 4 (0.3%) 2 (.2%) - -
-
-
-
-
-
Total 1783 (100%) 2020 (100%) 1408 (100%) 1719 (100%) 1455 (100%) 953 (100%)
714 (100%)
499 (100%)
340
(100%)
244 (100%)
237 (100%)
Table 9: Breakdown by gender of the applications approved by the Refugee Status Branch in the financial years from 1997/98 to 2007/2008.
1997/98 (%) 1998/99 (%) 1999/2000 (%) 2000/01 (%) 2001/02 (%) 2002/03 (%)
2003/04 (%)
2004/05 (%)
2005/06 (%)
2006/07 (%)
2007/08 (%)
Male 106 (79.1%) 184 (78.6%) 281 (90.7%) 244 (78.2%) 459 (73.2%) 165 (66.8%)
63 (54.8%)
47 (58%)
42 (61.8%)
38 (57.6%)
43 (53%)
Female 27 (20.2%) 50 (21.4%) 28 (9%) 68 (21.8%) 168 (26.8%) 82 (33.2%)
52 (45.2%)
34 (42%)
26 (38.2%)
28 (42.4%)
38 (47%)
Unknown 1 (0.7%) 0 (0%) 1 (0.3%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
Total 134 (100%) 234 (100%) 310 (100%) 312 (100%) 627 (100%) 247 (100%)
115 (100%)
81 (100%)
68 (100%)
66 (100%)
81 (100%)
Table 10: Breakdown by gender of the applications declined by the Refugee Status Branch in the financial years from 1997/98 to 2007/2008.
1997/98(%) 1998/99(%) 1999/2000(%) 2000/01 (%) 2001/02 (%) 2002/03 (%)
2003/04 (%)
2004/05 (%)
2005/06 (%)
2006/07 (%)
2007/08 (%)
Male 423(72.3%) 864(69.8%) 971(65.7%)