Erica Stanford faces backlash over remark comparing Indian immigration queries to spam; Priyanca Radhakrishnan calls it reinforcing negative stereotypes
New Zealand Immigration Minister Erica Stanford has come under fire for comments deemed stereotypical and offensive towards Indians. During a parliamentary exchange on May 6, Stanford compared unsolicited emails from Indians seeking immigration advice to spam — sparking widespread criticism, especially from Indian-origin Labour MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan, reported financialexpress.com.
MP Priyanca radhakrishnan calls stanford’s comments “unacceptable” and “harmful” to indian community.
Stanford, a Cabinet minister from New Zealand’s ruling National Party, admitted in Parliament to forwarding official mails to her personal Gmail account. In defence, she added that she receives a large number of unsolicited emails — “like, for example, things from people in India asking for immigration advice” — which she almost considers spam and does not respond to.
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Her comments drew a sharp response from Radhakrishnan, who slammed the minister for singling out a particular ethnic group
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“Comments like these serve to reinforce negative stereotypes against an entire community of people,” said Radhakrishnan, adding that such remarks are “careless at best and prejudiced at worst.”
In her defence, Stanford later clarified that she had been misunderstood. “I did not say it is automatically considered as spam,” she stated, explaining, “I said ‘I almost regard those as being akin to spam’.” However, critics argue that her clarification does little to undo the damage caused by targeting a specific group in her statement.
Stanford’s remarks stir diplomatic and community tensions, with calls for more culturally sensitive leadership in immigration affairs