New Zealand urged to show humanity to Pacific islands in face of climate change

The New Zealand government has a moral and regional responsibility to help Pacific neighbors at risk of rising seas caused by global climate change, the government's own Human Rights Commission said Friday.

The commission called on the government to increase its annual quota of people from the tiny nation of Kiribati who are granted residence in New Zealand.

The call came two days after Kiribati national Ioane Teitiota, his wife and children were deported following a failed legal bid to be classed as the world's first climate change refugees.

Just 75 Kiribati citizens were granted New Zealand residence each year, Race Relations Commissioner Susan Devoy said in a statement.

"Increasing our PAC Kiribati quota is an immediate and real way we can show leadership, empathy and humanity as a developed Pacific nation," said Devoy.

While Teitiota and his family had failed to meet the legal requirements for refugee or protected person's status, the commission remained concerned for his human rights and the humanitarian consequences of requiring his family to return to Kiribati.

"New Zealand may not have a legal responsibility but we have a moral and regional responsibility to support our Pacific cousins," said Devoy. Endi