ISSUE
Friday, January 17, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 42
A whopping 85 percent of families split from their loved ones due to New Zealand border closures have been affected by depression, anxiety, and stress issues – according to a survey conducted by the NZ Indian Split families Facebook group.
Indian Weekender reported on this survey and the effect of New Zealand’s fortress way of life in a story last week. Since then, the team has spoken to several families that have had been impacted by these closures, revealing stories of heartbreak, prolonged separation, violence, and an arduous journey home.
A month-long journey from India to New Zealand
On April 8, 2021, Raj, a New Zealand resident, went to his hometown New Delhi to meet his family. Little did he knew that getting back to New Zealand would be a challenge and take a toll on his health – both physically as well as mentally.
“I only intended to be in India for two months and had my tickets booked for 10 June. My son Gurjas' second birthday was on 30 June. I had planned my trip so that I could be back home for his birthday after completing the 14-day MIQ. However, due to the NZ border closure, my flight on 10 June was cancelled and I was disheartened as I knew I would not be able to be with my family for his birthday,” says the 38-year-old.
After that, Raj kept waiting and hoping that the border restrictions would be eased. But on April 28, India was regarded as a high-risk country and a resident who wanted to travel to NZ had to spend 14 days in a green zone country before travelling to NZ.
Raj, who had migrated to NZ in 2014, further said, “Then in July after we had no option, I decided to book my travel to New Zealand via Serbia. It was quite expensive, but I had no option. It was quite stressful to think about spending 14 days in an unknown country where I knew no one. Then we had to request MIQ to change my MIQ voucher. Finally, we booked my flight for September 7. However, the fact that I wanted to be with my family kept me going.
“Finally, on 7 September, five months after my arrival in Delhi, I took my first flight which was till Doha. Then from there I travelled to Serbia and reached Belgrade. The vast time difference made it difficult for me to communicate regularly with my wife and family as Serbia was 10 hours behind NZ time. However, I somehow managed to kill my time by watching series on Netflix and other channels. Finally, on September 22, I started my journey to New Zealand. I took my first flight which was from Belgrade to Dubai. The duration of this flight was 5 hours and 20 minutes. Then I had a stopover in Dubai for 10 hours.
“My next flight was from Dubai to Auckland, but it had a technical stopover at Kuala Lumpur for one hour and 30 minutes,” he continued.
“I finally landed at Auckland airport at 11 am on September 24, but we were then told on the flight that our MIQ is in Christchurch. Despite being 15 minutes away from my home in Auckland, I was unable to meet them and I felt helpless. We took a domestic flight and I landed in Christchurch where I am just counting each day before I can be with my family, when I can hug my son. I am looking forward to meeting him finally after six months. I regret missing so many special moments of his growing up. It has become a mission to be with my family. A lot of mental stress but the hope that it is just a few more days is keeping me going.”
Making a humanitarian appeal
Natasha (name changed on request) arrived in New Zealand at the end of January 2016 on student visa. Married in December 2016, Natasha and her partner planned to apply for a dependent visa after completion of her studies. This happened in April 2019, when promptly thereafter they applied for one.
Their application was rejected by Immigration due to lack of evidence.
“My partner and his family believed that the lack of evidence was from my side, and that his visa was declined because of me. Immigration pointed out that my partner has never supported me financially which led to declining his visa application, which makes sense to me. But when I mentioned the same thing and tried to convince my in-laws and my partner that we will put up his application with proper evidence again, but they are still not ready to listen,” she said.
This one rejection spiraled into a life-threatening situation for Natasha.
“Their behaviour toward me started changing day by day. It started with mental torture and abusive language. As time passed by, my partner and in-laws started getting more aggressive toward me with mental and physical torture,” she elaborated.
“I had enough of this mental and physical torture and decided to leave the country for my mental peace. I have been staying in Dubai with a friend, but my visitor visa expires in February. I want to come back to New Zealand, a place where I have made my home. I was waiting for the New Zealand border to re-open, but it seems it might take long time to re-open the border.”
Putting in a request to Immigration New Zealand on humanitarian grounds, Natasha said, “It’s been more than 18 months that I am away from the country. If I had to go back to India, I am sure I will be the victim of domestic violence and that will have a huge impact on my career and personal growth. Considering my current situation, I do not see any options available for me except coming back to New Zealand and start focusing on my career.”
Separation affecting personal and professional life
Sufiyan Malim, head chef at a restaurant in Auckland has been waiting for this wife, Nagma Qureshi to join him since June 2019. The couple had applied for a partnership-based visitor visa in June 2019, which was approved in March 2020. However due to border closures, his wife has been unable to join him in New Zealand.
Managing busy work schedules, time difference and broken plans, Sufiyan says the separation has had a major impact on his mental health.
“This really has affected me a lot. Being apart from your partner, at such a crucial time when you need a support system, it’s impacted my mental health. I am unable to concentrate.”
Talking about this impact on his work, he says, “Being a head chef, I am unable to lead my team properly because of this uncertainty and pressure. And in our industry, if you are not able to be mentally present, it can be very risky.”
Having taken a toll of his life and future, Sufiyan has decided to leave New Zealand after Summer. “This is leading me to make the decision that I am going to leave the country in 2022. I don’t want to leave my employer in a lurch during the summer season, but after that I will be leaving New Zealand. Because if we must wait for another year to apply and get a visitor visa, our goals, future, decisions are all stuck, we have been in a limbo and cannot continue like this.”
Psychologists weigh in on mental health issues and consequences during COVID
Neha Golchha, Registered Clinical Psychologist, says, “The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption to daily life and undoubtedly has increased the psychological distress. There are many studies confirming the same. It's a tough time to be a migrant in New Zealand.”
Kavita Ram, a counsellor elaborated, “The stress level is not for the individual but also for one's entire family. The government's rules are adding to stress levels. It is a shame. The government is now looking at the broader picture of keeping New Zealander's safe, but they do need to realise that mental health is also as important. One need to not lose hope and get through it. One should look at the other side and keep thinking positive.”
On what people should do to keep their mental stress low, Neha says, “Firstly, let's acknowledge that this indeed is a tough time for all of us, maybe in different ways. Just like physical health, our mental health needs attention now more than ever.”
She suggests connecting and keeping in touch with people. As the theme for Mental Health Awareness week is "a little chat can go a long way", staying connected can make a difference to our well-being.
“'Are you okay?' can be the beginning of a meaningful conversation.”
Sharing her view on what the government do to reduce risks on an individual’s mental health, especially during these trying times, Neha said, “Equitable and accessible timely mental health services is definitely an important step. Strengthening the mental health workforce is crucial to the Government's ongoing efforts to enhance New Zealand's mental health services. To mitigate the psychological consequences, the government might be able to provide as much information as possible regarding the opening of borders and further information.”