Wellington, Sep 19 (IANS) Qualified new immigrants in New Zealand are being discriminated against over their work credentials and language skills by employers, a new survey has found.

Lack of communication skills was a common factor for discarding job applications from new immigrants, says the survey conducted by New Zealand's Massey University.

The problem is rife in Auckland, which is now ahead of Sydney in having the highest number of overseas-born people in Australasia, the survey said.

The survey took into account the nature of discrimination experienced or perceived by new settlers in New Zealand.

The survey indicated that the attitude of some employers were out of step with reality and did not recognise the rapid growth in immigrant population.

The report, titled 'Being Accepted: The Experience of Discrimination and Social Exclusion by Immigrants and Refugees in New Zealand', suggested among other things that the host population should try to understand new settlers' backgrounds and culture.

A point highlighted in the survey finds that New Zealand had focused a lot on recruiting immigrants but paid little attention to how well immigrants settle.

Many of the immigrants interviewed during the survey said they had expected to find work in the country much more easily than they did.

Others expressed annoyance that their overseas qualifications were not recognised here and they had to retrain or undergo further study in New Zealand to gain local qualifications before they were accepted.

In some cases, applicants presumed 'Muslim' were rejected.

"Muslims and people of Middle Eastern origin who were not Muslim felt particularly discriminated against in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks in the US," the survey said.

"Some people are making fun of us and saying you are a terrorist or perhaps you are from (Osama) bin Laden family and you are a Muslim so that makes you a terrorist," the report said, quoting a Muslim respondent.

Many immigrants felt under-valued, under-utilised or ignored when they could have been appointed to positions of responsibility they felt they deserved, others - both professional and trades people - reported being perceived as outsiders and excluded from the social networks in their workplace, the survey says.

The survey coincides with a 30-year high in New Zealand's skilled labour shortage.