Asian communities are becoming scapegoats" New Zealand's housing crisis #001

Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, is consistently ranked among the top ten least affordable housing in the world in the annual Demographia International report. All three major cities in the country - Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, the capital - are classified as "extremely inaccessible".

As a result, there is an influx of people in small towns who are relocating in the hope of finding cheaper housing, and discovering that new demands have also led to higher property prices in small towns.

In Tauranga, a small northern coastal town of 128,000 people, the average property value has increased from NZ$304,000 (176,000 euros) to NZ$497,000 (288,000 euros) over the past five years. The demography report now ranks Tauranga among the 10 least accessible cities in the world, along with Hong Kong, San Francisco and Vancouver.


Asian "stereotypes" prevail

While lax government regulation and the problems of global income inequality go largely unnoticed, Asians in New Zealand seem to have become the scapegoat for the crisis.

Jacqueline Leckie, associate professor of Asian Migration and Diaspora Studies at the University of Otago, said that "some politicians have played the Asian card to promote nationalism." She added that the media in New Zealand and discussions about housing in popular discourse "are strongly influenced by historical stereotypes."" Asian peoples.

Dr. Changzu Song, senior lecturer in Korean and Asian studies at the University of Auckland, also said that New Zealand's colonial and political experience has traditionally fueled racism against ethnic Asians. More recently, "the competition that Europeans (New Zealanders of European descent) experience from Asian migrants for business, jobs and housing may have fueled some racist sentiments," he told DW.

"Despite the more rational conclusion that the housing crisis was not caused primarily by Asian immigrants, there is a widespread perception that 'rich Chinese' contributed to the crisis," Song explained.

People who ethnically identify as Asian make up approximately 15% of New Zealand's population. The largest group consists of Chinese, followed by Indians, Koreans, Filipinos and Japanese, respectively. For some New Zealanders, Beijing's emergence as a superpower makes them feel that their "idyllic paradise" is under threat.

"Casual racism"

Speaking to DW, some Asians in New Zealand said that "casual racism" is the most common form of discrimination. The comments included: "Where did you really come from?"or "Oh, your English is really good" and "Is your English good?"

Su-min, 27, who was born in South Korea but moved to New Zealand as a young child, said, "Casual racism is quite common here... Although Auckland is quite diverse, a random person will try to assert their own stereotypes about different ethnic groups." Yolo 247