'Never Respond To Indians' Emails': New Zealand Minister Under Fire For Her Remarks

New Zealand's Immigration Minister, Erica Stanford, has come under fire for her comments made during a parliamentary session, where she likened unsolicited emails from Indian nationals seeking immigration advice to spam.

While speaking in the parliament on May 6, Stanford said she considers the emails from Indians as "being akin to spam."

The remarks from the minister came on May 6 when Labour Party's Willow-Jean Prime asked Erica Stanford to confirm every single email related to her ministerial portfolios, which had ever been sent to or from her personal email account, had been captured for the official record.

Responding to the Labour MP's question, Stanford said, "I have complied with the Official Information Act. I have also made sure that everything is available to be captured and have forwarded everything that I've needed to my parliamentary email address."

"I receive a lot of unsolicited emails like, for example, things from people in India asking for immigration advice, which I never respond to. I almost regard those as being akin to spam," Stanford added.

The remarks have been met with strong criticism, particularly from Indian-origin Labour MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan, who condemned the statement as "careless at best and prejudiced at worst." 

Priyanca Radhakrishnan, in a post on X, attacked the New Zealand minister, saying so much for the government's focus on strengthening the bilateral relationship and focusing on people-to-people links.

"Earlier this week, in response to a question by @willowjeanprime the Immigration Minister felt the need to single out people from one country/ethnicity in a negative light. If you’re from India, don’t bother emailing her because it’s automatically considered spam. So much for the National govt’s all-of-government focus on strengthening the relationship between India & NZ and focus on people-to-people links," Priyanca Radhakrishnan said. 

The incident has sparked a broader debate about the sensitivity of public officials when addressing immigration matters and the potential for ethnic generalisations. 

Erica Stanford has been serving as New Zealand's Minister of Immigration since November 2023. She took the charge after the formation of the National-led coalition government under Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

However, Erica Stanford later clarified, saying her statement had been misinterpreted. "I did not say that I consider them as spam," she explained. "I only said that I consider them almost akin to spam," she said.

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