New Zealand bars Mugabe banker

New Zealand bars Mugabe banker

GONO: Snubbed

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By Staff Reporter

NEW Zealand has delivered an embarassing and public visa snub for Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono.

Gono and his delegation were said to be in Canada, and intended to travel to New Zealand, apparently on a mission to promote the central bank's foreign currency policies.

A spokesman for New Zealand's Foreign Minister Phil Goff said Monday that Gono's team had applied for visas, but "their applications are already in the process of being declined."

Goff and his Australian counterpart are stepping up the call for international pressure on Robert Mugabe's regime.

Meanwhile, New Zealand is giving refugees fleeing oppression in Zimbabwe special permission to apply for permanent residence without first having to meet the country's stiff immigration requirements.

The policy change, which affects about 450 Zimbabweans who entered New Zealand before Sept. 23 last year, was devised when the political situation in Zimbabwe was "very rugged," Immigration Minister Paul Swain said.

Today's announcement came amid harsh international criticism of the regime of President Robert Mugabe.

"Here's a situation where the system has completely broken down in Zimbabwe, run by a tyrant," and hundreds had fled to New Zealand, Swain told National Radio.

"A lot of them are not able to apply normally and we need to be able to give them certainty in their lives," he said.

Swain estimated another 650 Zimbabweans would gain residency by meeting normal skills criteria for migrants.
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