People of Asian origin — including those from India and China — are the most discriminated against ethnic group in New Zealand, a survey has found.
The survey released Saturday was carried out by UMR Research with 750 people in November last year, Xinhua reported.
Asians were named by 75 percent of respondents as the most discriminated against group in the country. That figure has remain relatively unchanged for the past five years.
New Zealand Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres said the issue is not new, but the country needed to focus on inclusion of Asians in all aspects of New Zealand life to break down discrimination.
He said that in the 1970s and 1980s, Pacific islanders were more discriminated against but this changed as the community became more established.
De Bres hoped attitudes toward Asians would also change over time.
“Asians are now one of our four largest population groups, and one of the fastest growing. There are very few Asians on the boards of district health boards, not enough Asian teachers in our schools, not enough Asian local councillors or community board members and Asian migrants continue to face discrimination in applying for jobs,” he said.
According to the 2006 census, there were over 354,000 people of Asian origin in New Zealand, of which 23 percent were of Indian origin born in New Zealand and 22 percent were of Chinese ethnicity born in New Zealand.
The Indian High Commission in Wellington said that till November 2011, there were 107,000 people of Indian origin.
