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Homes for refugees ready in Christchurch

Author
Newstalk ZB Staff,
Publish Date
Thu, 19 Jul 2018, 5:19AM
Three families from the Middle East will be rehoused in Christchurch. (Photo / Getty - historic)
Three families from the Middle East will be rehoused in Christchurch. (Photo / Getty - historic)

Homes for refugees ready in Christchurch

Author
Newstalk ZB Staff,
Publish Date
Thu, 19 Jul 2018, 5:19AM

Three fully furnished homes are waiting for their new refugee families to arrive today in Christchurch.

The large families are from the Middle East - two families have three kids, and one has four.

South West Baptist Church CORS Project co-ordinator Nick Regnault says generous donations from people moving into rest homes has helped furnish the homes.

"We have had probably around three of those people come forward and say you can have things from my house, so we have been able to go into houses and take sofa's, fridges and tables."

It's separate to the Refugee Quota Programme run by Immigration New Zealand, which has ceased to exist in the Garden City since the 2010/2011 earthquake.

The refugees have had to go through a strict processing criteria to finally be resettled in Christchurch, and Regnault says the families have had a range of emotions, including fear and gratitude.

"They are all pretty excited and relieved to be here and looking forward to coming down to Christchurch."

Extra donations received have been passed to other programmes within the church.

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