Fears trafficking victims are being deported from New Zealand
By Gill Bonnett of RNZ
Tearfund says it's shameful that trafficking victims are being deported from New Zealand when they should be protected.
The non-profit organisation has uncovered new figures which show the extent and nationalities of intercountry adoptions, through an unchecked pathway. There are fears some of them could be among trafficking victims, as some adoptive parents have exploited children by making them work for no wages or putting them into domestic servitude.
People trafficking complaints in New Zealand have risen more than 4000% since 2018 but prosecutions are rare, and some victims are known to have been deported.
Tearfund's head of advocacy, Claire Gray, said the government needs to take stock of the problem.
"We don't know the scale of the issue. We don't know who is being trafficked and who is being exploited. If you are in a situation of trafficking and exploitation of the any kind in New Zealand, it's very unclear how you raise the alarm about that safely and how you get out of that situation. And then there is very, very weak, minimal protections in place for people, for victim survivors of trafficking."
It is not known how many people leave the country without reporting that they were trafficked.
"I think a lot of potential victims of trafficking in New Zealand will be deported, so we will never know definitively," Gray said.
"I think it's almost like a shameful thing to say about our country, some of these people are the most vulnerable people - they've had their freedom taken away from them or compromised in some way - and our response to that is just to pop them on a plane and get rid of them as quickly as we can. It's really not good enough."
New trafficking legislation is needed which should include better protections for those who are abused or exploited, she said.
New Zealand has faced international criticism through the US Trafficking in Persons report on how it identifies trafficking, prosecutes it and helps victims once they are found. Intercountry adoptions
Fears have been raised about trafficking among a specific category of adoptions which occur overseas.
In other adoptions, Oranga Tamariki (OT) and the Family Court have roles in vetting and checking adoptive families before the children are placed in their care.
Tearfund's figures suggest most of the unchecked intercountry adoptions happen in Samoa, but also Kiribati, Congo and other countries.
They show in the last four years, about 2300 children had gained citizenship after being adopted from countries which have not ratified the Hague Convention.
Gray said the extent of any trafficking and exploitation among those children was unclear, and OT itself said it cannot say how many of its child uplifts had been adopted through the process, known as Section 17 for its place in the Adoption Act.
"The evidence that we've seen is that section where we have those intercountry adoptions, is actually being used as a pathway to traffick children to New Zealand for the purpose of exploiting them," she said. "So, that will be by far the minority of cases, but it still is a loophole that we believe should be safeguarded very urgently."
In departmental reports, officials reported INZ, OT and the NZ police were seeing 'increasing numbers' of children of all ages, particularly in the 18-21 age group, who have been adopted offshore and were in exploitative situations in New Zealand where they are 'coerced, threatened and deceived'.
Section 17 was used in New Zealand's most high-profile trafficking conviction - also the most recent (2020) and the only one for trafficking and enslavement - of Joseph Auga Matamata.
Matamata was convicted of enslaving 13 Samoan nationals and 10 counts of human trafficking between 1994 and 2019. His youngest victim was a 12-year-old boy he had adopted. His other victims were older and escaped his compound or returned home.
"One of the biggest impacts of this offending on them was they went home broken, beaten in spirit and ashamed, because for many of them they had been deported," Immigration NZ (INZ) said at the time.
Gray said despite the case and others raised publicly, most adoptions were genuine. The immigration pathway was helpful to families and should be honoured, she added, but better safeguards had to be put in place along with an immediate pause while that happened. Oranga Tamariki and Immigration New Zealand
OT said it has a role in adoptions when the child's country of origin is a contracting state of the Hague Convention.
"Oranga Tamariki only has formal intercountry adoption programmes with Hague Contracting States including Chile, Hong Kong, India, Philippines, Lithuania, and Thailand," said manager of Tamariki and Whānau Services Paula Attrill, in a written statement.
"These programmes are available for New Zealanders, following assessment and approval, to apply to adopt a child from."
In other adoptions, the process is carried out under the laws of the overseas country and outside the framework of the 1993 convention, she said.
"In some circumstances, we have partnered with non-Hague contracting states to work towards the development of arrangements that ensure safeguards are in place for the children involved."
OT has declined interview requests.
In a written statement, INZ said New Zealand had a whole-of-government approach to preventing and fighting people trafficking, and to providing help to victims.
"If it is determined the individual does not have a clear visa pathway to remain in New Zealand lawfully, we will start the deportation process," said its national compliance manager Fadia Mudafar.
"There is a formal process for a person liable for deportation to provide information about their personal circumstances, where they may disclose that they are a victim of trafficking.
"We recognise the courage it takes to share such experiences and approach each disclosure with sensitivity, respect, and a commitment to ensuring the individual's safety and dignity. Additionally, compliance officers are trained to detect trafficking indicators."
INZ gave the example of Matamata in which staff identified the potential trafficking, halted deportation action and referred the matter for further investigation.
"If concerns arise during deportation proceedings, the matter is immediately referred by the compliance officers to the investigations team," Mudafar said.
"MBIE works closely with a range of international and domestic partners across business, and civil society to prevent people trafficking in New Zealand. Where people trafficking does occur, we are committed to ensuring the welfare of victims is at the heart of our response and that offenders are prosecuted for their crimes."
It spelled out its activities, including: Offshore prevention and capacity building initiatives to uplift the capability of international partners to respond to people trafficking, and disruption activities with law enforcement to target people trafficking networks
Representing New Zealand at key international meetings such as the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime and the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime
Robust procedures to identify potential people trafficking risks across visa and verification processing
Delivery of training to frontline staff to help them identify indicators of people trafficking, particularly at the border
Suspected victims of trafficking can apply for a Victims of People Trafficking Visa (VoPT)
Support to both New Zealand citizens/residents and non-residents if the crime occurred in New Zealand
Victims can be certified by NZ Police. Certification grants access to health, welfare, and immigration support services.
"Officials recognise there are further opportunities to improve our sustainable support services to victims," said Mudafar.
"MBIE will continue to work with partners to uplift the support to victims in New Zealand."
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Otago Daily Times
9 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Fears trafficking victims are being deported from New Zealand
By Gill Bonnett of RNZ Tearfund says it's shameful that trafficking victims are being deported from New Zealand when they should be protected. The non-profit organisation has uncovered new figures which show the extent and nationalities of intercountry adoptions, through an unchecked pathway. There are fears some of them could be among trafficking victims, as some adoptive parents have exploited children by making them work for no wages or putting them into domestic servitude. People trafficking complaints in New Zealand have risen more than 4000% since 2018 but prosecutions are rare, and some victims are known to have been deported. Tearfund's head of advocacy, Claire Gray, said the government needs to take stock of the problem. "We don't know the scale of the issue. We don't know who is being trafficked and who is being exploited. If you are in a situation of trafficking and exploitation of the any kind in New Zealand, it's very unclear how you raise the alarm about that safely and how you get out of that situation. And then there is very, very weak, minimal protections in place for people, for victim survivors of trafficking." It is not known how many people leave the country without reporting that they were trafficked. "I think a lot of potential victims of trafficking in New Zealand will be deported, so we will never know definitively," Gray said. "I think it's almost like a shameful thing to say about our country, some of these people are the most vulnerable people - they've had their freedom taken away from them or compromised in some way - and our response to that is just to pop them on a plane and get rid of them as quickly as we can. It's really not good enough." New trafficking legislation is needed which should include better protections for those who are abused or exploited, she said. New Zealand has faced international criticism through the US Trafficking in Persons report on how it identifies trafficking, prosecutes it and helps victims once they are found. Intercountry adoptions Fears have been raised about trafficking among a specific category of adoptions which occur overseas. In other adoptions, Oranga Tamariki (OT) and the Family Court have roles in vetting and checking adoptive families before the children are placed in their care. Tearfund's figures suggest most of the unchecked intercountry adoptions happen in Samoa, but also Kiribati, Congo and other countries. They show in the last four years, about 2300 children had gained citizenship after being adopted from countries which have not ratified the Hague Convention. Gray said the extent of any trafficking and exploitation among those children was unclear, and OT itself said it cannot say how many of its child uplifts had been adopted through the process, known as Section 17 for its place in the Adoption Act. "The evidence that we've seen is that section where we have those intercountry adoptions, is actually being used as a pathway to traffick children to New Zealand for the purpose of exploiting them," she said. "So, that will be by far the minority of cases, but it still is a loophole that we believe should be safeguarded very urgently." In departmental reports, officials reported INZ, OT and the NZ police were seeing 'increasing numbers' of children of all ages, particularly in the 18-21 age group, who have been adopted offshore and were in exploitative situations in New Zealand where they are 'coerced, threatened and deceived'. Section 17 was used in New Zealand's most high-profile trafficking conviction - also the most recent (2020) and the only one for trafficking and enslavement - of Joseph Auga Matamata. Matamata was convicted of enslaving 13 Samoan nationals and 10 counts of human trafficking between 1994 and 2019. His youngest victim was a 12-year-old boy he had adopted. His other victims were older and escaped his compound or returned home. "One of the biggest impacts of this offending on them was they went home broken, beaten in spirit and ashamed, because for many of them they had been deported," Immigration NZ (INZ) said at the time. Gray said despite the case and others raised publicly, most adoptions were genuine. The immigration pathway was helpful to families and should be honoured, she added, but better safeguards had to be put in place along with an immediate pause while that happened. Oranga Tamariki and Immigration New Zealand OT said it has a role in adoptions when the child's country of origin is a contracting state of the Hague Convention. "Oranga Tamariki only has formal intercountry adoption programmes with Hague Contracting States including Chile, Hong Kong, India, Philippines, Lithuania, and Thailand," said manager of Tamariki and Whānau Services Paula Attrill, in a written statement. "These programmes are available for New Zealanders, following assessment and approval, to apply to adopt a child from." In other adoptions, the process is carried out under the laws of the overseas country and outside the framework of the 1993 convention, she said. "In some circumstances, we have partnered with non-Hague contracting states to work towards the development of arrangements that ensure safeguards are in place for the children involved." OT has declined interview requests. In a written statement, INZ said New Zealand had a whole-of-government approach to preventing and fighting people trafficking, and to providing help to victims. "If it is determined the individual does not have a clear visa pathway to remain in New Zealand lawfully, we will start the deportation process," said its national compliance manager Fadia Mudafar. "There is a formal process for a person liable for deportation to provide information about their personal circumstances, where they may disclose that they are a victim of trafficking. "We recognise the courage it takes to share such experiences and approach each disclosure with sensitivity, respect, and a commitment to ensuring the individual's safety and dignity. Additionally, compliance officers are trained to detect trafficking indicators." INZ gave the example of Matamata in which staff identified the potential trafficking, halted deportation action and referred the matter for further investigation. "If concerns arise during deportation proceedings, the matter is immediately referred by the compliance officers to the investigations team," Mudafar said. "MBIE works closely with a range of international and domestic partners across business, and civil society to prevent people trafficking in New Zealand. Where people trafficking does occur, we are committed to ensuring the welfare of victims is at the heart of our response and that offenders are prosecuted for their crimes." It spelled out its activities, including: Offshore prevention and capacity building initiatives to uplift the capability of international partners to respond to people trafficking, and disruption activities with law enforcement to target people trafficking networks Representing New Zealand at key international meetings such as the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime and the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime Robust procedures to identify potential people trafficking risks across visa and verification processing Delivery of training to frontline staff to help them identify indicators of people trafficking, particularly at the border Suspected victims of trafficking can apply for a Victims of People Trafficking Visa (VoPT) Support to both New Zealand citizens/residents and non-residents if the crime occurred in New Zealand Victims can be certified by NZ Police. Certification grants access to health, welfare, and immigration support services. "Officials recognise there are further opportunities to improve our sustainable support services to victims," said Mudafar. "MBIE will continue to work with partners to uplift the support to victims in New Zealand."
RNZ News
9 hours ago
- RNZ News
Fears trafficking victims are being deported from New Zealand
Deporting trafficking victims is "like a shameful thing ...pop them on a plane and get rid of them as fast as we can," says Tearfund's Claire Gray. Photo: SFC Tearfund says it's shameful that trafficking victims are being deported from New Zealand when they should be protected. The non-profit organisation has uncovered new figures which show the extent and nationalities of intercountry adoptions, through an unchecked pathway. There are fears some of them could be among trafficking victims, as some adoptive parents have exploited children by making them work for no wages or putting them into domestic servitude. People trafficking complaints in New Zealand have risen more than 4000 percent since 2018 but prosecutions are rare, and some victims are known to have been deported. Tearfund's head of advocacy, Claire Gray, said the government needs to take stock of the problem. "We don't know the scale of the issue. We don't know who is being trafficked and who is being exploited. If you are in a situation of trafficking and exploitation of the any kind in New Zealand, it's very unclear how you raise the alarm about that safely and how you get out of that situation. And then there is very, very weak, minimal protections in place for people, for victim survivors of trafficking." It is not known how many people leave the country without reporting that they were trafficked. "I think a lot of potential victims of trafficking in New Zealand will be deported, so we will never know definitively," Gray said. "I think it's almost like a shameful thing to say about our country, some of these people are the most vulnerable people - they've had their freedom taken away from them or compromised in some way - and our response to that is just to pop them on a plane and get rid of them as quickly as we can. It's really not good enough." New trafficking legislation is needed which should include better protections for those who are abused or exploited, she said. New Zealand has faced international criticism through the US Trafficking in Persons report on how it identifies trafficking, prosecutes it and helps victims once they are found. Fears have been raised about trafficking among a specific category of adoptions which occur overseas. In other adoptions, Oranga Tamariki (OT) and the Family Court have roles in vetting and checking adoptive families before the children are placed in their care. Tearfund's figures suggest most of the unchecked intercountry adoptions happen in Samoa, but also Kiribati, Congo and other countries. They show in the last four years, about 2300 children had gained citizenship after being adopted from countries which have not ratified the Hague Convention. Gray said the extent of any trafficking and exploitation among those children was unclear, and OT itself said it cannot say how many of its child uplifts had been adopted through the process, known as Section 17 for its place in the Adoption Act. "The evidence that we've seen is that section where we have those intercountry adoptions, is actually being used as a pathway to traffick children to New Zealand for the purpose of exploiting them," she said. "So, that will be by far the minority of cases, but it still is a loophole that we believe should be safeguarded very urgently." In departmental reports released to RNZ, officials reported INZ, OT and the NZ police were seeing 'increasing numbers' of children of all ages, particularly in the 18-21 age group, who have been adopted offshore and were in exploitative situations in New Zealand where they are 'coerced, threatened and deceived'. Documents released to RNZ had nationalities removed. "The scale of harm inflicted [redacted] adoptees has highly likely remained unchanged during the Covid-19 pandemic", according to this May 2021 Intelligence report. Photo: Supplied/MBIE Section 17 was used in New Zealand's most high profile trafficking conviction - also the most recent (2020) and the only one for trafficking and enslavement - of Joseph Auga Matamata . Matamata was convicted of enslaving 13 Samoan nationals and 10 counts of human trafficking between 1994 and 2019. His youngest victim was a 12-year-old boy he had adopted. His other victims were older and escaped his compound or returned home. "One of the biggest impacts of this offending on them was they went home broken, beaten in spirit and ashamed, because for many of them they had been deported," Immigration NZ (INZ) said at the time. Gray said despite the case and others raised publicly, most adoptions were genuine. The immigration pathway was helpful to families and should be honoured, she added, but better safeguards had to be put in place along with an immediate pause while that happened. There is evidence that intercountry adoptions are being used as a way of trafficking children to New Zealand to exploit them, but data is hard to find. Photo: janfaukner/123RF OT said it has a role in adoptions when the child's country of origin is a contracting state of the Hague Convention. "Oranga Tamariki only has formal intercountry adoption programmes with Hague Contracting States including Chile, Hong Kong, India, Philippines, Lithuania, and Thailand," said manager of Tamariki and Whānau Services Paula Attrill, in a written statement. "These programmes are available for New Zealanders, following assessment and approval, to apply to adopt a child from." In other adoptions, the process is carried out under the laws of the overseas country and outside the framework of the 1993 convention, she said. "In some circumstances, we have partnered with non-Hague contracting states to work towards the development of arrangements that ensure safeguards are in place for the children involved." OT has declined interview requests. In a written statement, INZ said New Zealand had a whole-of-government approach to preventing and fighting people trafficking, and to providing help to victims. "If it is determined the individual does not have a clear visa pathway to remain in New Zealand lawfully, we will start the deportation process," said its national compliance manager Fadia Mudafar. "There is a formal process for a person liable for deportation to provide information about their personal circumstances, where they may disclose that they are a victim of trafficking. "We recognise the courage it takes to share such experiences and approach each disclosure with sensitivity, respect, and a commitment to ensuring the individual's safety and dignity. Additionally, compliance officers are trained to detect trafficking indicators." INZ gave the example of Matamata in which staff identified the potential trafficking, halted deportation action and referred the matter for further investigation. "If concerns arise during deportation proceedings, the matter is immediately referred by the compliance officers to the investigations team," Mudafar said. "MBIE works closely with a range of international and domestic partners across business, and civil society to prevent people trafficking in New Zealand. Where people trafficking does occur, we are committed to ensuring the welfare of victims is at the heart of our response and that offenders are prosecuted for their crimes." It spelled out its activities, including: "Officials recognise there are further opportunities to improve our sustainable support services to victims," said Mudafar. "MBIE will continue to work with partners to uplift the support to victims in New Zealand." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
08-06-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Families adopt more than 10 kids from overseas
By Gill Bonnett of RNZ Some New Zealanders have adopted more than 10 children from overseas and one woman with previous convictions smuggled children into the country, government briefings have revealed. Internal intelligence reports and warnings to Labour and National immigration ministers show concerns about the motives of some parents in adopting children from abroad, but being powerless to act. A Swedish commission recommended last week that international adoptions be stopped after an investigation found a series of abuses and fraud dating back decades. In New Zealand, too, the abuses - and the unchecked pathway for adoptees coming from countries which have not ratified the Hague Convention - have been known about for decades. It has included adoptive parents with previous convictions and children being held as house-slaves or sexually assaulted. Oranga Tamariki and the Family Court here do not need to be consulted - or even notified - before the children are adopted and arrive in New Zealand, which has also prompted fears the lack of oversight could mean other abuses remain undiscovered. An immigration and customs report from June last year, which analysed threats to the New Zealand border, said fraud involved in "non-genuine adoptions" included falsifying family relationships to gain residence or citizenship. A briefing to immigration minister Erica Stanford in January said the majority of intercountry adoptions were genuine, but some young people may be adopted out by birth parents who see it as a way for their children to access New Zealand's better "education, services and labour market". "Several cases of harm to international adoptees, perpetrated by their adoptive families, have been identified in recent years, and there is a risk that the incidents may rise in future. "While the risk of exploitation and abuse exists in both genuine and non-genuine adoptions alike, the latter presents a much higher risk, both at an individual and systemic level. MBIE intelligence evidence, for example, indicates that children and young adults entering New Zealand as a result of a non-genuine adoption are at higher risk of sexual abuse, labour exploitation and domestic servitude, as well as reports of physical abuse, neglect and preventing school-age adoptees from participating in education." The number of such adoptions was expected to increase over time, "potentially exponentially as cohorts of previous adoptees come of age" it said, seeming to suggest adopted children could later adopt children themselves from their home country. Adoptees over 18-years-old The dependent child category residence visa extends to the age of 24 and a "large proportion" of those adopted overseas were over the age of 18 when they were brought to New Zealand, officials said. A 2021 intelligence report said 65% of dependent child category applicants in 2020/21 from one unnamed (redacted) country were aged from 18 to 25, totalling 224 young adults. "While the issues cited above can arise for adoptees of any age, adoptions initiated at a relatively older age tend to present higher risk of some types of harm, such as financial exploitation, and are also more likely to raise questions in respect of their genuineness, with associated risks to the integrity of the immigration system. "While New Zealand law sets age restrictions for domestic adoptions, there is no upper age limit for recognising international adoptions, which creates a situation where adoptees well past the age where standard arguments for genuine adoptions, eg, for the care and protection of a child in the nature of a parent child relationship, may no longer be as applicable, and it is likely that secondary gains, such as securing residence may be the primary motive in many of these cases." Some adoptions over a certain age would be genuine - "Officials do, however, consider that there are likely to be very few situations where adoption at older ages (especially 20+) would be truly genuine." Protection from child welfare services did not extend to the older cohort, who were considered vulnerable because they were young adults in an unfamiliar country. The warnings have been known to ministers for many years. "Once in New Zealand, the children are placed under a high level of control by their adoptive parents," officials told then-immigration minister Iain Lees-Galloway in 2019. "They have their passports taken and movements controlled. They are placed into paid work. However, their wages are controlled by the adoptive parents and they are frequently required to take out substantial loans. The adoptive parents would control these funds, with the children required to pay off the debt." Children smuggled into New Zealand New Zealand-resident parents have "often" adopted more than 10 children or young adults each from overseas, said the same briefing, indicating some appeared to have been physically, sexually or emotionally abused. And in an August 2023 report, MBIE Intelligence said Immigration New Zealand (INZ) reported a woman "alleged to have been adopting children and smuggling them into New Zealand". "INZ has additional concerns around offences against the New Zealand Citizenship Act 1977, convictions of welfare fraud, and family harm incidents with New Zealand Police. INZ has concerns around the welfare of these nationals and has requested additional information to inform decisions on their residency applications." It found she had "highly likely" provided false and misleading information to INZ to secure residence for her adopted children, had a history of misleading government agencies and was unlikely to be a suitable adoptive parent. It said she "occasionally resorts" to violent behaviour towards children under her care, and a redacted section referred to a conviction for which she was discharged. "Given [her] history of violent behaviour, she is unlikely to be an appropriate sponsor to adopt children under her care ... there is no information on the frequency of [her] violent behaviour towards her children. It is unknown whether [she] uses physical discipline against her children on a regular basis." Stanford asked for more policy information after she was alerted to a concerning dependent child category residence visa application in a "no surprises" item in December. The adopted children would be classed as victims of people trafficking if they were later forced into work or unpaid labour, domestic servitude, coerced marriages or suffered sexual exploitation, she was told. Other adverse outcomes ranged from neglect, emotional abuse, limited access to schooling, and trauma and loss from being removed from their biological families and their home countries. "While there are concerns about the nature of the adoption, the Immigration Act and relevant immigration instructions do not provide a pathway for legally declining the application." Where to get help: Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason. Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357. Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends. Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202. Samaritans: 0800 726 666. Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@ What's Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds. Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and English. Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254. Healthline: 0800 611 116. Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155. OUTLine: 0800 688 5463. If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
