Pascua is among many migrants on limited visas in New Zealand who have found themselves trapped in a precarious position as the country attempts to recover from the crisis.

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The government on Thursday unveiled a NZ$50 billion (US$30 billion) spending package as part of the country’s 2020 budget aimed at reversing the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic.

The Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund from the budget builds on a NZ$12.1 billion rescue package announced in March and focuses on jobs, infrastructure and education. “This is the most significant financial commitment by a New Zealand government in modern history,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in his budget speech.

The unprecedented spending will take government debt to 53.6 per cent of gross domestic product by 2023, up from just 20 per cent in 2019. The plan, which includes an eight-week extension to a wage subsidy programme created in the wake of the pandemic, is expected to keep New Zealand’s unemployment rate below 10 per cent.

But advocates say the budget leaves thousands of people on temporary visas out in the cold, unable to access welfare benefits available only to residents and citizens.

“We have been receiving reports from the migrant community that redundancies are getting more rampant,” said Mikee Santos, chair of Migrante Aotearoa.

According to official advice to Cabinet released publicly last Friday, there were potentially 380,000 foreign nationals and migrant workers in New Zealand. The advice said “repatriation of foreign nationals at such a scale is unlikely to be possible” and they would have to shelter in place in New Zealand.

Santos said the government’s decision not to activate a provision in the Social Security Act, which would temporarily extend emergency welfare eligibility to migrant workers during times of crisis, was causing a “humanitarian crisis to develop within New Zealand’s migrant workforce”.

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“We appreciate the government has provided NZ$30 million to the Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) – who provide food parcels to the needy – and they say migrant workers can access this help, but our concern is that food packs do not go far enough,” he said, adding that migrants could not receive support for rent or utilities from CDEM.

“Since the first week of the lockdown, we have called on the government to activate Section 64 but there seems to be no political will,” Santos said. “This is very disappointing. If this is not considered a crisis, what is?”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the government had “found a way to provide the same support that would otherwise go to those groups without having to make legal changes to our social development regulations. And that includes actually being able to cover the costs of even accommodation”.

She acknowledged that as New Zealand moved out of the emergency, migrant workers would need a more tailored response, but said she did not want to get ahead of any decision-making.

She denied that the Government had not supported people in need, saying it had provided tens of millions of dollars to make sure needs were met, including accommodation as well as food.

Santos said based on reports his organisation received, some were still falling through the cracks.

“We are already hearing reports of migrant workers living in cars, sheds and public spaces, and winter will be particularly tough, especially for those who are also supporting families in their home countries,” said Santos, who is also the coordinator of the Union Network of Migrants.

Extending social benefits temporarily to these groups would be a “tear drop in a large bucket of water”, he said.

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In the tourist hotspot of Queenstown, the council said it had received some 9,000 requests for assistance after New Zealand’s borders shut, which has all but dried up tourism.

Dennis Maga, the general secretary of First Union, said the government had turned its back on thousands of migrant workers, some of whom had contributed to New Zealand’s economy for decades.

He blamed that decision on Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, who this week made “regrettable and xenophobic” comments that migrant workers who were out of jobs should “go home”.

Santos said there were fears that migrant workers – who are employed in sectors from construction to health care, farming, IT and hospitality – would be at risk of labour exploitation.

“If they continue on this path, migrant workers will be placed in a position where they will be in dodgy employment relationships where the power dynamics are imbalanced,” Santos warned.

Meanwhile for Pascua, the dream of starting a new life in New Zealand with her young son and partner motivated her to overcome the setback.

“I wanted to fight so I kept on applying to different companies every day,” said the IT professional, who previously worked in Singapore and Malaysia.

Anxiety turned into relief when she received a new job offer recently. “I plan to settle here with my family. That’s our plan.”

Additional reporting by AP, NZME