Speaking in parliament five days earlier, Peters—who has built his New Zealand First Party around campaigns targeting immigrants—had suggested that two Iraqi-born residents, Amir Salman and Omer Ali, “have connections to the murderous regime of Saddam Hussein.”

“If so,” he asked, “what are they doing here?” In early May Peters had accused two other members of the Iraqi community of being members of Hussein’s government. Both Salman and Ali denied the charges at the June 5 meeting. “Because I did nothing wrong, I have nothing to fear,” said Amir.

“We refuse to be used by certain politicians as tools in their scare tactics to gain votes,” said Dr. Saad Al Khayat, who chaired the meeting on behalf of the Iraqi Community Council.

The featured speakers were Christopher Carter, the minister for ethnic affairs of the governing Labour Party; Matthew Robson of the Progressive Party; which partners Labour in government; and Keith Locke, Green Party member of parliament. All criticized Peters’s remarks.

Hind Jawad asked Carter if the government had put a block on immigration from Iraq, explaining that her sister’s prospective husband had been denied entry into New Zealand to participate in his wedding. Carter said the government had decided to “review” all visa applications from Iraq.

In a related development, the Immigration Service reported June 9 that it had launched a $1 million (US$715,000) drive targeting alleged immigration fraud. “We…go into workplaces and occasionally we will knock on somebody’s door,” said Mary Anne Thompson, the head of the department. Peters noted that the unit was similar to an anti-fraud “flying squad” recommended by his party—a proposal that Immigration Minister Paul Swain had previously dismissed in “scathing” terms, he said.

While such government moves threaten the rights of immigrants, the capitalists here are not about to sharply reduce the inflow of prospective workers because they need them for cheap labor.  
 
 
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