A ministerial advisory group has linked migrant exploitation in New Zealand to organised crime, calling it an “emerging challenge” and urging coordinated offshore and onshore prevention measures, RNZ has reported.
In its June report on transnational and serious organised crime, the group said migrant exploitation was so widespread that “one can’t live in New Zealand without buying products or using services that contribute” to it, with such instances increasing.
According to the report, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) received nearly four times as many migrant exploitation complaints in 2023 as in the previous year — 3,925 compared with 933. Most related to pay and conditions rather than criminal exploitation, but the group warned that serious cases such as people trafficking, forced labour, and sexual exploitation were “highly likely” under-reported and growing. Exploited migrants were “almost certainly” present in horticulture, construction, beauty services, and hospitality sectors.
The group noted that “cash is critical to the criminal economy” and facilitated migrant exploitation, enabling crime by avoiding monitoring from regulators and financial institutions. It said organised crime groups often launder profits by swapping “dirty” cash paid to migrant labour with “clean” customer payments. It recommended mandating electronic wage payments, starting with high-risk industries such as construction, hospitality, and horticulture, RNZ reported.
Among the measures proposed were stronger regulatory oversight, corporate accountability, community engagement to detect and disrupt exploitation networks, and public education on recognising exploitative business practices.
Offshore, the group recommended enhanced screening of visa applicants to prevent exploitation before arrival, along with diplomatic engagement with embassies and high commissioners.
It highlighted that some migrants opt for people smugglers to gain faster entry, limiting their ability to complain later, and called for better screening to verify both eligibility and genuine employment need.
The advisory group urged the government to clarify mandates between MBIE and police for leading human trafficking investigations, RNZ reported. Onshore, it stressed the need for an effective immigration system to detect invalid visas, prosecute non-compliant employers, and reduce opportunities for organised crime groups to exploit migrants. It also recommended that high-risk industries proactively manage supply chain integrity, with legal liability for failing to mitigate exploitation risks.
The group backed the Immigration (Fiscal Sustainability and System Integrity) Amendment Bill, which would make it an offence to charge an employee or potential employee a fee for a job — whether or not they had started work or were in New Zealand — extending beyond the current law that only applies when an employer charges someone already working in the country.
Associate Police Minister Casey Costello, who appointed the group in February, described migrant exploitation as an “increasing challenge” and a “horrible crime.” She said awareness had improved, helping the public identify and report exploitation so that migrants could be helped and offenders prosecuted. Costello said tackling the issue required better use of domestic and overseas partnerships, improved information sharing, targeting criminal profits, and prioritising investigations and prosecutions.
Costello said she would outline more steps after receiving the advisory group’s final report next month, which will contribute to the government’s wider transnational and serious organised crime strategy. The advisory group, chaired by Steve Symon of Meredith Connell, has submitted monthly reports since March, with the final due in September.
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