"Speaking with one voice": how Ukrainians in New Zealand and the Republic of South Africa support Ukraine

In this article, we talk about how a small group of Ukrainians achieved changes in New Zealand's strict immigration policy, and how the Ukrainian community in South Africa established a partnership with some of the country's most influential NGOs.

Mahi for Ukraine: 4 people, an open letter, and cooperation with the government

Until recently, the small diaspora of Ukrainians in New Zealand (about 1200 people according to the 2018 census) was divided between the country’s northern and southern islands. However, after the full-scale Russian invasion, the community came together to appeal to the highest levels of New Zealand’s government and influence national policy. This happened thanks to the Ukrainian advocacy group Mahi for Ukraine (“mahi” translates to “work” in Maori, the language of New Zealand’s indigenous people). This group was founded by Kateryna Turska, who has been living in New Zealand since 2006.

"We are watching. Europe is helping, America is helping. And what is New Zealand doing? Will it accept Ukrainians, or do we need to organize some kind of help ourselves?" Kateryna explained. By the time the full-scale invasion started on February 24, Kateryna had contacted Ukrainians she knew. They soon held a community meeting, from which Mahi for Ukraine was born. The group has just four members. Despite its small size, the group has proven to be highly effective, as it has become the New Zealand government’s go-to contact in the Ukrainian diaspora. "I realized that we need to speak with one voice with the authorities," says Kateryna.

Even before Mahi for Ukraine was founded, Kateryna was contacted by the New Zealand branch of the international NGO World Vision, which helps children and vulnerable families around the world. Rebekah Armstrong, Head of Advocacy and Justice at World Vision New Zealand, explains that it is the largest NGO in the country. World Vision saw that the government was not responding urgently enough to the events in Ukraine, particularly to the humanitarian needs. New Zealand Ukrainians could not even bring their loved ones over from Ukraine, because New Zealand, unlike the EU, required visas for entry. Kateryna was very worried about her parents back in Slovyansk, which had already endured Russian occupation in 2014.

On March 10, 2022, World Vision New Zealand, together with Mahi for Ukraine and other Ukrainian and humanitarian organizations in New Zealand, published an open letter to the government calling for action and for the government to allow Ukrainians to come to the country. "It was an incredible partnership, a very spontaneous result of our response to what was happening in the world," Armstrong says. On March 15, their work paid off when the New Zealand government announced that it was introducing a two-year special visa for Ukrainians.

Special Ukraine Visa: what is it and how does it work?

Thanks to this special program, close relatives of residents or citizens of New Zealand are able to enter the country. The conditions are significantly different from European countries (our article on Germany and Austria). New Zealand does not provide any assistance, and all costs are borne by the host family. However, new arrivals have the right to medical care in state institutions, adults receive work authorization, and children can go to school.

After Mahi for Ukraine achieved its primary goal, they set about working to improve the special visa program and helping newcomers to adapt to their new lives. Later, the group convinced authorities to pay for English courses for Ukrainians, extend visa application deadlines, and expand the categories of people covered by the program. However, uncertainty remained – would these people be able to stay in the country in the future? According to Kateryna, this is precisely why most of those who received visas have since left New Zealand. As reported by the New Zealand government, the country issued about 1,510 visas under this procedure, but only 340 people who received them have remained in New Zealand as of August 2023. Two of them are Kateryna's parents.

Mahi for Ukraine regularly communicates with the authorities. Over the past year and a half, the country has appointed its third immigration minister, and with each new one, cooperation had to be rebuilt from scratch. Ultimately, these efforts paid off: at the end of August 2023, the government announced that Ukrainian refugees would be able to obtain New Zealand resident status.

Not Just Refugee Issues: Advocacy and Activism

Mahi for Ukraine focused on helping newly-arrived Ukrainians, as New Zealand does not offer the social support which Ukrainians receive in Europe. However, the group's activities went considerably beyond this. The activists also demanded that the government introduce sanctions against Russia, expel the Russian ambassador, declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, increase aid to Ukraine, and recognize the Holodomor as genocide (Kateryna published an op-ed on this matter in the country's largest newspaper, the New Zealand Herald).

The authorities responded to these demands in different ways. However, the most important thing is that New Zealand, despite its distance from the war, is helping Ukraine. The country has already provided more than 80 million USD, which has covered humanitarian needs as well as weapons, communication equipment, satellite communication support for Ukrainian intelligence, and financing for demining and infrastructure reconstruction.

During this time, Kateryna became the leading voice of New Zealand’s Ukrainian community. She was invited to New Zealand television to comment on a scandalous case on behalf of the Ukrainian community when, in June 2023, it turned out that an employee of the state Radio New Zealand changed the content of materials about Ukraine before publication by adding Russian propaganda narratives to them. After discovering this manipulation in at least 15 materials, the management of the public broadcaster corrected them, apologized, and started an internal investigation.

Ukrainians in South Africa: government ambivalence, humanitarian aid, and difficulties with visas

Unlike in New Zealand, Ukrainians in South Africa had a pre-existing national organization – the Ukrainian Association of South Africa (UAZA) – since 2017.

UAZA has over 200 members – Ukrainians and South Africans – across five provinces and organizes up to 30 events a year, popularizing Ukrainian culture in South Africa and establishing ties between the countries.

"We didn't have to start from scratch in February 2022. We already had an active organization with developed partnerships and representation in the main cities of South Africa," says Dzvinka Kachur, co-founder and former head of the organization. Thus, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, UAZA focused on three tracks: informing the government about the situation in Ukraine, issuing visas for Ukrainians (since the South African embassy in Kyiv had ceased operations, it was necessary to quickly establish this mechanism through the embassy in Warsaw), and humanitarian support.

By the first week of the full-scale war, the participants established ties with Gift of the Givers, the largest African humanitarian organization which provides support during natural disasters and military conflicts and has the ability to deliver humanitarian aid around the world. In conjunction with the organization, UAZA started sending aid to Ukraine.

The issue of enabling temporary visas for Ukrainians was resolved within 6 weeks, but the possibility of remaining in South Africa long term is still limited. Dzvinka explains that this is a result not of a specific attitude towards Ukrainians, but of South Africa’s complex migration policies and problems within the department that deals with visas.

The most difficult challenge has been advocating for Ukraine before South African authorities, which have chosen to remain neutral over the Russian invasion. Ukrainians have tried to change their minds using petitions and appeals.

After a campaign to lobby government officials, UAZA decided to focus on building coalitions with other civil society organizations which defend human rights. The goal is to increase support for Ukraine in South Africa.

Cooperation with civil society: Desmond Tutu, art, and dialogue

Ukrainians have found sincere allies in South African civil society. UAZA created an informal coalition with influential non-governmental organizations in the country, including the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation and the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, which was also backed by Archbishop Tutu. Tutu was one of South Africa’s most famous human rights defenders. He was an Anglican priest, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a long-time fighter against apartheid, and a social activist who advocated for peace, the rights of the LGBT community, and helping the oppressed around the world.

Together with these and other organizations, UAZA organized a series of dialogues between civil society representatives of the two countries about a just peace. During one dialogue, Ukrainian dissident Myroslav Marynovych explained how the example of Nelson Mandela inspired him while he was imprisoned by the Soviet Union.

UAZA’s strategy was to build direct connections with South African civil society and influential South Africans to spread knowledge about Ukraine, in particular through art. "We hope to start a dialogue in society with the help of art projects," says Dzvinka. During Women's Month, they organized an exhibition of posters about the war created by Ukrainian artists from the SunSeed Art platform. The posters were exhibited in several cities around South Africa. On Ukrainian Independence Day, the organization put on a dance performance titled We Stand for Freedom alongside South African artists. For Heritage Day, when South Africans celebrate the cultural diversity of their country, Ukrainian South Africans recorded a video about the deportation of children to Russia, which was released in English as well as Afrikaans, Zulu, and Xhosa.

Dzvinka says that Russian propaganda is very powerful in South Africa. Russia plays on people’s memories of Soviet support for anti-colonial movements. However, according to an Ipsos poll conducted in June 2023, the majority of South Africans (52%) personally support Ukraine, compared to 33% supporting Russia. However, when it comes to state policy, public opinion differs, with 59% of respondents believing that their government should remain neutral in the war, with 23% wanting to back Ukraine, and 18% for Russia. Therefore, UAZA is trying to change this situation, appealing to shared values of the struggle for freedom and justice.

Russia’s full-scale invasion has mobilized Ukrainians all over the world. However, little is known about how Ukrainian communities in distant countries have reacted to the war. Examples of civil mobilization of Ukrainians in South Africa and New Zealand show that the key to successful Ukrainian advocacy abroad is cohesion and proactivity. After all, global solidarity with Ukraine is gradually being formed from many of such contributions.

The article was first published on Radio Liberty.