Boatpeople will be an increasing problem for New Zealand, as demonstrated by a failed attempt by a vessel to get here last year, Prime Minister John Key says.
New Zealand has agreed to take 13 of 78 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers rescued at sea by Australian vessel the Oceanic Viking in October and taken to taken to the Indonesian port of Tanjung Pinang.
New Zealand originally declined to take the refugees but after negotiations will accept the group if they pass security vetting as part of the country's year quota of 750 refugees it accepts through the United Nations.
The refugees had refused to get off the boat, insisting they be taken to Australia, their original destination.
The month-long standoff ended only after Australia promised to resettle the refugees within four to 12 weeks.
Mr Key said there was no guarantee all 13 would be approved.
"At this point we can't be sure that 13 would actually come to New Zealand."
The case highlighted the wider problem of boatpeople seeking to live here.
"I think we need to accept now is that this issue of boat people is not a problem that's going to go away any time soon. I think there is a risk that New Zealand itself is being targeted and if that is the case then New Zealand would have to work through the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and other countries to work out how we are going to handle that situation," he told reporters.
"I think there is a risk that boats are going to be sent to New Zealand. Or at least there will be attempted sailings to New Zealand." That risk was highlighted by an attempt last year.
"In the end the refugees actually got off the boat in Australia but I think they were wanting to come to New Zealand."
The Government thought the problem would worsen as people smugglers used larger more seaworthy boats - in the past Australia has suffered the brunt because of New Zealand's remoteness.
"We are trying to work through an overall solution if that eventuality occurred," Mr Key said.
It was too early to say if that would mean offshore processing of boatpeople as Australia does but he did not rule it out.
Earlier today a spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman said the batch of Tamil refugees would be accepted as part of New Zealand's overall refugee quota of 750.
"This is an Asia-Pacific regional issue that will remain for the foreseeable future. The New Zealand Government maintains that the best approach for dealing with this wider issue is through the Bali Process which emphasises prevention, intervention and deterrence," she said.
Green MP Keith Locke welcomed the move as a humanitarian gesture and said New Zealand should share Australia's burden. He urged the Government to increase its refugee quota.
This is not the first time New Zealand came to the rescue of an Australian prime minister wanting to resettle stateless boatpeople. It took some of the Afghans rescued by the MV Tampa in 2001.
That time, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Canada helped Australia to resettle over 430 asylum-seekers rescued in 2001 by the Tampa, a Norwegian vessel.
Most of those asylum seekers were taken to Nauru, and about 150 people, were diverted to New Zealand, where they were subsequently granted asylum and progress toward citizenship.
