Discrimination Problems

Several respondents in the study stated that they were faced with racial prejudice when they arrived in Christchurch, which occurred in many different arenas: street racism,

neighbourhood racism, school-based racism, housing and institutional racism. This in many ways diminished their feeling a sense of belonging in their new community and the Somali refugees’ integration process.

The respondents reported experiencing racism from their neighbours. One of the

respondents stated that she was physically attacked by her neighbour’s dog (believing that the dog acted upon the neighbour’s instructions). This occurred several times when she and her children were leaving or entering the house. The woman could not complain to the police because of her poor English and for fear that the neighbour might instigate more attacks against her family. The situation forced the respondent to move from the street where she was living to another street, where many Somali families were living. Some participants also confirmed that they were refraining from engaging with their neighbours because of their unreceptive attitudes.

School-based racism was identified by respondents as one aspect of the racial discrimination they experienced. Four respondents reported that their children were being bullied at school and were sometimes physically abused on account of their race. Some of the parents stated that although the Somali children were in actual fact the real victims, they ended up being punished by the teachers, because their poor English meant that they could not explain their situation. On the other hand, New Zealand children were the first to complain to the teachers and shifted the blame on to the Somali children, which led to many Somali children being tagged with bad behaviour labels by their teachers.

One of the respondents described a situation her daughter experienced at school:

Because my daughter was constantly harassed, my sponsor had to visit the school. The teachers were telling the sponsor that my daughter was too aggressive and might be suspended because of her bad behaviour. In fact, the reason she was aggressive was that she didn't know enough English to protect herself. Therefore, she resorted to using physical means to protect herself.

Two respondents said they were concerned with institutional discrimination, which they described as somewhat embedded in the system. While expanding on this point, one of the respondents stated “there are bad people in every society, but it is worse when those who are expected to enforce the law [referring to the police] and to provide equal protection to all segments of society are seen to discriminate against some people because of their race”. The respondent added “it is even more disturbing when the law makers [referring to the MP Winston Peters], who are expected to set the example for an inclusive society are making negative statements targeting a particular ethnicity in the parliament – which would be a direct endorsement of racial discrimination at the highest level”. The respondents also were grateful to the former Mayor of Christchurch and the former Minister of Immigration for supporting the community when Winston Peters made negative comments in Parliament about the Somali community.

Two of the eight male respondents believed that the police sometimes were not fair in their handling of complaints about racial discrimination. One respondent described his personal experience with the police after he complained to them several times about constant abuse he experienced from his neighbour, which he believed was motivated by racism. He stated that when he reported this complaint to the police, the advice he was given was to move to another house before the police had even spoken with the neighbour.

The respondents also reported experiences of racially-motivated discrimination from the New Zealand customs at Christchurch Airport. Three respondents said they were

handpicked by the customs officials each time they returned to Christchurch from overseas visits. A male respondent explained his experiences with the customs in the following words:

I was handpicked from the many people in the long queue by the custom officials on two occasions I was returning from Africa and was taken to a room where I was questioned and my luggage extraordinarily checked. I was held for more than two hours and when nothing was found, they asked how I obtained the money I purchased my ticket with.

One respondent also reported that an elderly Somali woman who returned from Africa was held at Christchurch airport for several hours (until she collapsed and was taken to the

hospital), because she did not speak English and there was no interpreter. He elaborated by saying;

We [Somalis] do not mind going through the normal security screening processes, but it is really frustrating and heart-breaking when you become the subject of a racial profiling exercise in your own country. I was proud of carrying the New Zealand passport because of the level of respect I received from the custom officials in Dubai and Nairobi, but I was really sad when I was treated differently from the rest of the passengers in the same plane, including those travelling on foreign passports. It made me doubt whether my passport was different from the other New Zealanders’ returning home.

However, the same respondent reported receiving more favourable treatment from the custom officials in Auckland. He said “I was not separated from the rest and in fact the custom official told me ‘welcome back home’, which really meant a lot me”.

Racism was stated by three respondents as one of the barriers to housing. A respondent in the individual interviews reported an experience she believed was racially-motivated. The respondent saw a property for rent in the paper and when she rang the landlord, was told that the property was already rented. However, the same property was advertised in the paper the following week. When her New Zealand sponsor rang the landlord directly, she was told that the house was available if she wanted to rent it. However, when the sponsor explained that the property was for a Somali family, the landlord declined, adding that he did not want a Somali family because he believed they had different cultural living conditions in their country and could spoil his house. He finally agreed to rent it to the Somali family after the sponsor threatened to report him to the Human Rights Office. Interestingly, after many years of dealing with Somalis, the same landlord now has three Somali families living in his properties.

Although the participants did not openly state it, the experience of racism also appeared to affect parent–school collaboration. For example, several parents (mostly mothers), stated they were fearful of walking in the streets due to the fear of street attacks (including bottle throwing from passing cars) or insults, and expressed that they were too intimidated to access communal facilities, such as libraries and public transport. For example, some participants in the focus group reported that they warned their children against catching buses from the bus exchange in the city because they feared for their children’s safety. This

finding supports McBrien’s (2005) work, which found fear caused by racial attacks and intimidation prevented Muslims in the U.K. from participating in school-based activities. This finding does support other academics’ work, such as Ladson-Bikkings and Tate (2000, in Nzinga-Johnson, Baker, & Aupperlee, 2009) who contend that parents’ race has more influence on parent - school collaboration than income, status, or education. These scholars argue that race has greater impacts for parents from minority cultures because collaboration of parents from minority cultures can be affected by their race since they can be subjected to racial discrimination from the dominant culture, which diminishes their confidence and motivation. The experience of racism has profound negative consequences on the integration of refugees, while also affecting their mental wellbeing and mental health (Berry, 1997; Rutter, 2004).

This finding suggests that officials in city councils, central government departments, school staff and individuals within the host community need to be educated to develop and enhance their understanding of why refugees exist; why the New Zealand government hosts

refugees; and how best the community can contribute to refugee settlement. The training of school staff can help them understand what support refugee families require in the

resettlement process and to collaborate well with schools. It would help officials to understand more about how their policies and services can support families of different cultural, religious and language backgrounds.