Refugee's

Refugees- A condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble

General Augusto Pinochet one of the most controversial figures in the history of Chile, was head of the military junta that ruled Chile 1973 to 1990. People were fleeing because General Pinochet established a dictatorship that was filled with lots of human rights violations with including mysterious killings of any person who was suspected of opposing his policy.
 * Chileans fleeing General Pinochet in the 1970s

80 percent of China's Christians attended China's 'illegal' house churches. 170 people were arrested in Nanayang County. Since Chinese weren't aloud to practice their Chrisian Religion in China, this made them flee to other countries such as New Zealand.
 * Persecuted Chinese



Many Asians (Indians, and Pakistanis) settled in Uganda. In August, 1972, the President of Uganda gave Asians 90 days to leave the country. Idi Amin Dada wanted the Asians out of his country because he was losing control over his country and decided the best way to recover was to throw out the Asians in a bold move.
 * Asians fleeing Uganda in the 1970s

What does UNHCR mean - United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees

How many refugees do New Zealand take in every year? New Zealand takes 750 refugees in every year

Diary- Chileans fleeing General Pinochet in the 1970s

11-06-1973 This is my first diary entry in my new diary from my grandfather. He had given me this brown leather diary to write in about our journey to the other side of the world. It would only be a couple more hours before my family and I left to go to New Zealand, our new home. We had plenty of reason's for fleeing our home, Chile, the main reason was that General Pinochet had taken over Chile and had established a dictatorship that was filled with many human rights violations. I should probably go, mum's yelling out to me that tea's ready. See ya.

12-06-1973 Today is a brand new day and we are packing to leave for New Zealand. I am excited and scared at the same time. I packed my few belongs into a small bag and grabbed my teddy bear of the small bed that sat in the corner of my room. It was dark outside as we left the house and quietly walked down the street to the dock where a boat stood silently waiting in the water. The sun had just started to come up over the horizon when we boarded the boat. I carried my teddy bear and my small bag on and stood silently inside. I heard the captain of the boat toot the horn, the engines started and we slowly drifted away from the dock. The water seemed so blue out on the open ocean and we even seen a couple of dolphins. Soon enough it was time for lunch. We walked into the kitchen which smelt of fresh fish and vegetables. I suspected that these would be fresh vegetables from the Chile market, but soon there will be none left and it will be canned vegetables and probably meat. Mum and dad said that the trip would take 3 weeks to get to New Zealand and by that time we would be sick of it. Time to go to bed now will write in as soon as I can. Bye

3-07-1973 We are just coming into the New Zealand dock and are so excited. My first immpresion of New Zealand was that it is a well looked after land and has plenty of space for farms and big house's. As we pulled in, plenty of New Zealanders were there to welcome us into their home country. We must have looked horrible because the weather on the boat was terrible. We were soon able to get off the boat, our legs felt really jelly because we had gotten used to the rocking motion of the boat, and were finally on non-moving ground. We had found a house before we had left which was situated in a city called Hamilton. It was a beautiful suburb, that we had chosen, which had brightly coloured flowers and all the streets were lined with beautiful green tree's. Every house had it's own front lawn and a little flower patch. The house it's self was gorgeous! It was a 2 storyed building with a great view of the city. I had my own room which was the colour pink, (my favourite colour), on the 1st floor with the lounge, kitchen and bathroom on the 2nd floor. Mum and dad's bedroom was also on the 1st floor and same with my brother and sister. Overall I actually like it here but I do miss my friends and other family members dearly. I hope that my parents will take me back over soon to see them. That's all for now

'There are already too many immigrants coming to New Zealand. We shouldn't runi our chances of getting a job or ruin our culture just because these people have trouble in their own countries. I think it is wrong of our Government to take in so many refugees each year. Most of them can't even speak English.' I think that if they are faced with persecution and have been kicked out of their country we should still take them in. Because they are speaking their langauge and we don't know how to understand them that shouldn't stop our chance's of getting a job or ruining our culture.