June 09, 2022
Emotional drain for 501 departees
A 501 deportee says there is little support for people sent back from Australia.
Ray was born in Greymouth but his family moved across the Tasman in the late 1980s when he was just three.
He admits to making mistakes which put him in jail, but found himself back in this country forcibly separated from his partner and teenage children, his scaffolding qualifications unrecognised and provided just a couple of weeks accommodation and a minimal benefit.
“Spending three and a half years in jail and then coming to a country that I’ve never lived in, no support, no family support, no nothing, everything is on Facebook or via phone so it is mentally and emotionally draining. The ripple effect it has on not only me but my family, my kids, I can’t go back,” he says.
Ray says one bright spot is his family will be able to fly over for his birthday now Covid restrictions have been lifted.