Students to leave, end of New Zealand dreams
Any hopes of a last minute turn around in government’s position on deportation notices served on the group of eight students who took symbolic sanctuary in the Unitarian Church was quashed on February 22, with the government choosing to stand firm on its original stand.
The student deportation saga which began mid last year when hundreds of students alleged to have provided fraudulent documents at the time of filing their first student visa in India were served deportation notice after Immigration New Zealand (INZ) came to know about the alleged fraud.
While a majority of students are believed to have already left New Zealand a small group of students had been pushing the boundaries of protestation against deportation orders, whereby among other tactics, taking a symbolic sanctuary in the Unitarian Church in Auckland at the beginning of this month.
This move had attracted significant media and last minute political attention along with some visible confusion within INZ compliance team on how to execute deportation orders inside the church, a place conceded by immigration minister as a “place of worship,” where arresting people might not be palpable for anyone.
Probably that apparent confusion within INZ since last week might have created some hopes, which eventually turned out be only “false hopes,” as government stood firm with their decision to deport students.
It all started on February 17, when negotiations between student’s lawyer Alastair McClymont and the INZ officials resulted in a reprieve for students where they were assured to not to be detained, if they choose to voluntarily leave New Zealand on or before Wednesday, February 22.
This reprieve had generated some hopes for the students as their lawyer sought to extract some more concessions from the INZ including avoiding a deportation stamp on student passports and getting a waiver from the five-year entry ban in New Zealand as is the current norm.
These negotiations had generated hope and anxiety for students in the last three days as student expectations have clearly moved away from getting an outright cancellation of deportation orders to at least get a waiver from deportation stamp on passports and retaining a right to return back legitimately to New Zealand on a valid visa.
Unfortunately, in the end, none of these goals was achieved for the students. The only concession extended to students was that they were given another few days to leave the country without being detained.
Now students are expected to leave by Saturday, February 25, or Sunday, February 26, depending upon their individual travel arrangements.
Meanwhile, the students have decided to launch a request to the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate INZ’s interpretation of the character waiver process which occurs in Visa applications and “good reason” reviews on Deportation Liability Notices.
Mr McClymont says that “the students and INZ have discussed the process under which they may apply for visas to return to New Zealand, and we have reached an understanding as to what the appropriate process should be.”
Although INZ had not revealed if any special concession has been made to the students and continue to maintain that they will access the individual application on a case by case basis as is the current practice.
“It is the student’s intention to await the outcome of any Ombudsman investigation before applying for visas to return to NZ,” Mr McClymont further says.
The students are hoping that if the Ombudsman finds in their favour, then they will have a strong case to make for their deportation status to be re-examined.
Regardless of what happens in future, the harsh reality is the government has firmly stood its ground and students have to leave the country for allegedly colluding with their immigration agents in providing fraudulent documents.
Any hopes of a last minute turn around in government’s position on deportation notices served on the group of eight students who took symbolic sanctuary in the Unitarian Church was quashed on February 22, with the government choosing to stand firm on its original stand.
The student deportation saga...
Any hopes of a last minute turn around in government’s position on deportation notices served on the group of eight students who took symbolic sanctuary in the Unitarian Church was quashed on February 22, with the government choosing to stand firm on its original stand.
The student deportation saga which began mid last year when hundreds of students alleged to have provided fraudulent documents at the time of filing their first student visa in India were served deportation notice after Immigration New Zealand (INZ) came to know about the alleged fraud.
While a majority of students are believed to have already left New Zealand a small group of students had been pushing the boundaries of protestation against deportation orders, whereby among other tactics, taking a symbolic sanctuary in the Unitarian Church in Auckland at the beginning of this month.
This move had attracted significant media and last minute political attention along with some visible confusion within INZ compliance team on how to execute deportation orders inside the church, a place conceded by immigration minister as a “place of worship,” where arresting people might not be palpable for anyone.
Probably that apparent confusion within INZ since last week might have created some hopes, which eventually turned out be only “false hopes,” as government stood firm with their decision to deport students.
It all started on February 17, when negotiations between student’s lawyer Alastair McClymont and the INZ officials resulted in a reprieve for students where they were assured to not to be detained, if they choose to voluntarily leave New Zealand on or before Wednesday, February 22.
This reprieve had generated some hopes for the students as their lawyer sought to extract some more concessions from the INZ including avoiding a deportation stamp on student passports and getting a waiver from the five-year entry ban in New Zealand as is the current norm.
These negotiations had generated hope and anxiety for students in the last three days as student expectations have clearly moved away from getting an outright cancellation of deportation orders to at least get a waiver from deportation stamp on passports and retaining a right to return back legitimately to New Zealand on a valid visa.
Unfortunately, in the end, none of these goals was achieved for the students. The only concession extended to students was that they were given another few days to leave the country without being detained.
Now students are expected to leave by Saturday, February 25, or Sunday, February 26, depending upon their individual travel arrangements.
Meanwhile, the students have decided to launch a request to the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate INZ’s interpretation of the character waiver process which occurs in Visa applications and “good reason” reviews on Deportation Liability Notices.
Mr McClymont says that “the students and INZ have discussed the process under which they may apply for visas to return to New Zealand, and we have reached an understanding as to what the appropriate process should be.”
Although INZ had not revealed if any special concession has been made to the students and continue to maintain that they will access the individual application on a case by case basis as is the current practice.
“It is the student’s intention to await the outcome of any Ombudsman investigation before applying for visas to return to NZ,” Mr McClymont further says.
The students are hoping that if the Ombudsman finds in their favour, then they will have a strong case to make for their deportation status to be re-examined.
Regardless of what happens in future, the harsh reality is the government has firmly stood its ground and students have to leave the country for allegedly colluding with their immigration agents in providing fraudulent documents.
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