WELLINGTON, March 15, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - New Zealand will offer 4,000 special
visas to refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine if they have family
in the southern hemisphere nation, its government said Tuesday.

  Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said it was New Zealand's largest special
visa category in decades in support of an international aid effort.

  Over 2.8 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on February
24, according to UN estimates.

  "It's a two-year visa to help people escape the current conflict and to
shelter here in the hope they can return home when the war ends," Faafoi
said.

  For one year, the estimated 1,600 Ukrainian-born citizens and residents in
New Zealand will be allowed to sponsor family members for the special visa,
under which they will be allowed to work.

  Relatives included in the scheme include parents, grandparents and their
adult siblings or adult children and their immediate family who have fled
Ukraine.

  "New Zealand has moved quickly to condemn the brutal and intolerable
invasion of Ukraine," the minister said.

  New Zealand also announced an extra NZ$4 million (US$2.7 million) in
humanitarian funding.

  "Alongside other diplomatic measures, we have acted urgently to respond to
Russia's hostility by instituting travel bans, export controls, passing the
Russia Sanctions Act 2022, and providing aid funding to support crucial
humanitarian work," the minister said.