The prominent Facebook group Migrants NZ, which has over 75,000 members, was recently forced to shut down amid threats of legal action by the New Zealand Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA).
The gang, which began with a few migrants in 2020, grew quickly during the COVID-19 epidemic. It offered an essential venue for migrants and sympathizers to communicate their experiences and oppose the anti-immigrant policies of the Labour Party-NZ First-Greens coalition government, which was independent of established parties and unions.
The Labour-led government, like other capitalist governments throughout the world, stoked nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiments in response to the epidemic and the following economic and social disaster.
Migrant NZ members spoke out against Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) intention to cease the processing of tens of thousands of residence applications in 2020, as well as other draconian measures such as family separation at the border.
Thousands of persons legally qualified to live in New Zealand were denied entry to the nation in 2020 and 2021 because the government refused to establish enough quarantine facilities. Migrants NZ was instrumental in organizing statewide rallies against the government’s policy last year.
At a time when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s administration is beginning a new wave of attacks on immigration, the Facebook group has been subjected to what can only be defined as politically driven suppression.
The threats against Migrants NZ highlight the growing use of anti-democratic tactics throughout the world as governments want to prevent the growth of working-class resistance to their pro-business policies.
On March 31, Migrants NZ’s administrators posted a message saying the group would be “archived”—preventing anyone from making further posts or comments—because the IAA had received a complaint accusing two group members of “providing systemic unlicensed immigration advice.”
The post noted: “Providing unlicensed immigration advice is a serious offense and can result in a fine of up to $100,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 7 years.”
