FOREIGN MIGRANTS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 127, 15 June 1937, Page 12

FOREIGN MIGRANTS

Dominion Arrivers Over Two Years NO GREAT INFLUX Although statemfents have been made" that the past few years have witnessed a quiet infiltration of foreigners into New Zealand, offxeial figures do not indicatd that thefe is any danger in this direction. During the last two years, Only 396 persons of foreign nationality or alien race have arrived in the' Dominion', with the deClared iiitention of becoming permanent residents, and the majority of these have been Jugoslavsj Indians, Germans, Poles and Italians. Statistics supplied by the CtistOms Department, which keeps a careftil checlc on the arrival of foreigners, reveal that 187 foreign migrants arrived in 1935 and 209 in 1936. These figures do not iitcltide British persons of European race and Attterican ditizens of European race, but they jlo embrace all Jewish persons of foreign nationality. More IndiaiiB and Gerittans. Jugoslavs were the most numerous foreign migrants during the last two years, 48 having arrived in 1935 arid 54 in 1936. The respective figures for Indians wero 23 and 42; fof GernlaiiSj 12 and 26; for POleSj 17- and 20;. and for ItalianSj 30 and six. The remaiiiing migrants came from most of the European and several Eastern eountries. The inereasO Of 22 foreign, ittirtligfants last year is not suffxciently large to cause any alatm. It iSj in factj more than aecolinted for by the increase in the arrival s of Indians and Germans. Indians, who are, of course, • British subjects, frequently arrive in varying numbers and the migration of Germans to New Zealand is l&rggly attribiitable to the iiumber of#people of Jewish des.sent desirous of escaping from Nazi persecution. Control of Iimnigratioh. . However, the figures do fiOt diSClO'se hny marked tendeney on the part of German Jews to seek sanetual'y in New Zealand. Like other British eountries, the Dominiofi has nOt placed insurmountable Obstaeles in the way of Jewish families •fleeing fi'oih Na^ism, but the regulations governing immigvation are sufficiently watertight to 6itsure the admission only of persons of good x'Opute and to restrict ifiordinately large arriv&ls froin any one sourco. All ^gfgdfig Mgratifig te New zealand with the intention of becoming permanent residents have to provide forms giving their reasons for desiring co settle in the Dominion, paTtietllai's of their mental and physical health, the amount of money which they will have lii their possession and their lingual ability and eertified details regarding their general ch&racter and reputafion. Fvery foreign migrant is also required to give an undertaldng that "he is not & disaffected of daixgerous person or one who advocates the overthrow by force and violenee of constitutional governinent."