November 21, 2013
Indian bureaucrats destroy kiwi whanau
A former immigration minister says the Immigration Service needs to be challenged over its treatment of people with foreign spouses.
Tuariki Delamere has been acting for two Maori women who staged a protest at parliament this week because their husbands had their visas cancelled by New Zealand Immigration Service officials in India.
Mr Delamere says it’s an appalling abuse of power that left the women with no obvious way out of their plight.
"They had no other option. The Government has changed the laws. They can’t appeal or anything. Immigration has lied in both cases. I have represented Marua for nearly three years trying to fight this. They say her marriage is not genuine. She’s been married for over three years. She’s got a 16 month old child. Lisa, she’s been married for six years. She’s got a four and a half year old. What does it take for them to say that these two women have got a genuine marriage? Is it because Maoris have got to have dozens of kids? Is that what they think?" he says.
Mr Delamere says Immigration Ministers Woodhouse and Nikki Kaye have sat on their hands and allowed New Zealand families to be destroyed by officials who aren’t even New Zealanders.
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