Amnesty International chief Agnes Callamard calls on New Zealand to lift its game
One of the issues she’ll be raising here is New Zealand’s lack of specific climate-related visas for Pacific Islanders impacted by climate change.
Our current immigration pathways that exclude older people, and those with disabilities or a medical condition, have also been called out for violating international human rights law.
In fact, according to Amnesty International’s scorecard, New Zealand has little cause to be smug.
Its 2025 report, “The State of the World’s Human Rights”, criticises new legislation that undermines Māori rights, including the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, the abolition of the Māori Health Authority and the erosion of Māori wards.
Also highlighted is New Zealand’s fall by seven places to 41st in the Climate Change Performance Index, and the undermining of environmental protections under the Fast-track Approvals Bill.
Callamard has noted New Zealand’s decision not to recognise Palestine as a state, a stance that was out of step with traditional allies such as Britain, Australia, Canada and France but a similar position to countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. It’s clear Callamard thinks it’s time we lifted our game
As one of the oldest and continuous Democracies on Earth, New Zealand has an obligation to stand for human rights, an obligation that has been undermined by this current Government.
The attack on indigenous rights, the high incarceration rates of indigenous people, our refusal to provide climate change refugee status to our Pacific brothers and sisters while doing nothing on climate change and our decision not to recognise Palestine are all direct results of this Government and they are worthy of sneering contempt and criticism from an organisation with the mana of Amnesty International.
Agnes Callamard has the moral authority to criticise NZ to our faces and we need to have the integrity to hear those criticisms.
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Further evidence that Amnesia International lost the plot long ago.
Only if the plot is to destroy our neighbours’ quality of life while clinging to our own island, as inequality and strife continue to increase.
Don’t you mean ‘Antisemitism International’? They’re a joke, like the UN.
All human beings hate you gaby, and we will until you are not around murdering and raping our kids anymore.
Mohammed, speaking as an outsider, what is your opinion of the human race?
Gaby you forgot to mention the holocaust, you AIPAC mouthpiece.
A whole lot of people are cottoning on to the fact that the Israelis (well way too many of them) are just a bunch of evil bastards.
What NZ does or doesn’t do has absolutely no effect on the Pacific Islands or anyone else. Our numbers are great. 0.17 contribution to global emissions and 80+% renewable energy. Certainly no ruining our fragile economy for.
Did Amenity International condemn the summary executions that Hamas committed since the Israeli Army moved out of some areas?
More likely to be mossard operatives doing the killing .