Chinese international students who were set to study in New Zealand are at an "immense disadvantage", the New Zealand International Students' Association says following the Government's decision this week to ban travellers arriving from China amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
On Sunday, the Government announced it is blocking travellers who have been through mainland China to try and prevent coronavirus from entering the country.
Kiwis have also been warned not to visit China at all, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade raising its travel advice to the highest level - "do not travel".
The announcement follows a similar one from Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison the day before. The United States has also announced a travel ban.
The new rules mean all foreign nationals travelling from or through mainland China will face entry restrictions.
But the International Students' Association criticised the Government, saying it "failed to consider the impacts on international students from or travelling through China".
It also called out Immigration New Zealand for holding onto about $10 million in application fees when students are banned from the country.
"Not only does the failure to adequately respond and provide support to international students destroy New Zealand’s image as an international education destination, it highlights how international students are further being treated as cash cows and are expected to make payments despite the crisis being out of their control."
Wu Xi warned the traveller ban could impact tourism, education and trade.
As of 2018, more than 36,000 international students were Chinese nationals - about 33 per cent of the entire international student cohort.
The association said due to the short notice of the ban, institutions had limited time to respond to or put in place procedures to support their international students affected by the ban.
"Some of these institutions do not even have medical centres dedicated to their students," the association said.
"Failure from Government and institutions to respond to the overall crisis in a proactive manner has put international students at an immense disadvantage.
"The sudden decision to enforce a travel ban has given international students barely a single day's notice, on a Sunday no less, leaving little to no time for international students to make arrangements with their institutions, Immigration New Zealand and accommodation providers."
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