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Record arrivals spark fresh call for curb on New Zealand immigration numbers

Xinhua, December 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Record numbers of visitors and migrants arrived in New Zealand last month, the government statistics agency said Wednesday.

Visitor arrivals numbered 333,600 in November, setting a new November record and up 11 percent year on year, according to Statistics New Zealand.

In the year ending November visitor arrivals hit a record 3.45 million, up 12 percent year on year.

Meanwhile New Zealand's annual net gain the number of arrivals over departures of migrants was 70,400 in the November year, slightly surpassing the previous annual record of 70,300 set in the October 2016 year.

"The annual net gain in migration came from an increase in migrant arrivals combined with a decrease in departures," population statistics manager Jo-Anne Skinner said in a statement.

"People arriving on work visas made up a third of all arrivals."

Migrant arrivals numbered 126,700 in the November year, a new annual record, with people on work visas comprising 33 percent of the total, New Zealand and Australian citizens 30 percent, student visas 19 percent, and residence visas 13 percent.

The opposition New Zealand First party described the government's "open door immigration" as a disaster for young New Zealanders trying to find jobs.

Seven thousand nurses had been given working visas in the past seven years, while New Zealand-trained nurses could not get jobs, said New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.

"The government has settled on migrant labour as a cheaper option and migrants as a more compliant workforce, stifling fair wages and driving down New Zealand workplace conditions," Peters said in a statement.

"With the annual net migration gain at a record 70,400 for the November 2016 year, young Kiwis are competing for jobs against people desperate for work," he said.

"At the same time there has been a growth in workplace abuses, and demands on unsuspecting immigrants to pay upfront for jobs often the unscrupulous employers are from their own countries." Endit