
Children As Young As 6 Adopted, Made To Work As House Slaves
Article – RNZ
A social worker who has helped 10 teenagers who escaped slavery fears others remain under lock and key.
, Immigration Reporter
This story discusses graphic details of slavery, sexual abuse and violence
Children as young as six are being adopted overseas and being made to work as house slaves, suffering threats, beatings and rape.
Kris Teikamata – a social worker at a community agency – spoke about the harrowing cases she encountered in her work, from 2019 to 2024, with children who had escaped their abusers in Auckland and Wellington.
'They're incredibly traumatised because it's years and years and years of physical abuse, physical labour and and a lot of the time, sexual abuse, either by the siblings or other family members. They were definitely threatened, they were definitely coerced and they had no freedom. When I met each girl, [by then] 17, 18, 19 years old, it was like meeting a 50-year-old. The light had gone out of their eyes. They were just really withdrawn and shut down.'
In one case a church minister raped his adopted daughter and got her pregnant.
Teikamata and her team helped 10 Samoan teenagers who had managed to escape their homes, and slavery – two boys and eight girls – with health, housing and counselling. She fears they are the tip of the iceberg, and that many remain under lock and key.
'They were brought over as a child or a teenager, sometimes they knew the family in Samoa, sometimes they didn't – they had promised them a better life over here, an education and citizenship.
'When they arrived they would generally always be put into slavery. They would have to get up at 5, 6 in the morning, start cleaning, start breakfast, do the washing, then go to school and then after school again do cleaning and dinner and the chores – and do that everyday until a certain age, until they were workable.
'Then they were sent out to factories in Auckland or Wellington and their bank account was taken away from them and their Eftpos card. They were given $20 a week. From the age of 16 they were put to work. And they were also not allowed to have a phone – most of them had no contact with family back in Samoa.'
'A thousand kids a year… and it's still going on'
Nothing stopped the abusive families from being able to adopt again and they did, she said. A recent briefing to ministers reiterated that New Zealanders with criminal histories or significant child welfare records have used overseas courts to approve adoptions, which were recognised under New Zealand law without further checks.
'When I delved more into it, I just found out that it was a very easy process to adopt from Samoa,' she said. 'There's no checks, it's a very easy process. So about a thousand kids [a year] are today being adopted from Samoa, it's such a high number – whereas other countries have checks or very robust systems. And it's still going on.'
As children, they could not play with friends and all of their movements were controlled.
Oranga Tamariki uplifted younger children, who were sometimes siblings of older children who had escaped. 'The ones that I met had escaped and found a friend or were homeless or had reached out to the police.'
When they were reunited with their birth parents on video calls, it was clear they came from loving families who had been deceived, she said.
While some adoptive parents faced court for assault, only one has been prosecuted for trafficking.
Government, police and Oranga Tamariki were aware and in talks with the Samoan government, she said.
Adoption Action member and researcher Anne Else said several opportunities to overhaul the 70-year-old Adoption Act had been thwarted, and the whole legislation needed ripping up.
'The entire law needs to be redone, it dates back to 1955 for goodness sake,' she said. 'But there's a big difference between understanding how badly and urgently the law needs changing and actually getting it done.
'Oranga Tamariki are trying, I know, to work with for example Tonga to try and make sure that their law is a bit more conformant with ours, and ensure there are more checks done to avoid these exploitative cases.'
Children from other countries had been sold for adoption, she said, and the adoption rules depended on which country they came from. Even the Hague Convention, which is supposed to provide safeguards between countries, was no guarantee.
Immigration minister Erica Stanford said other ministers were looking at what can be done to crack down on trafficking through international adoption.
'If there are non-genuine adoptions and and potential trafficking, we need to get on top of that. It falls outside of the legislation that I am responsible for, but there are other ministers who have it on their radars because we're all worried about it. I've read a recent report on it and it was pretty horrifying. So it is being looked at.'
A meeting was held between New Zealand and Samoan authorities in March. A summary of discussions said it focused on aligning policies, information sharing, and 'culturally grounded frameworks' that uphold the rights, identity, and wellbeing of children, following earlier work in 2018 and 2021.
Where to get help:

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

RNZ News
30 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Wellington's Terrace Tunnel down to one lane after armed police stop
Police conducted an armed stop in the Terrace Tunnel on Wednesday. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The Terrace Tunnel on State Highway 1 in Wellington is down to one lane heading northbound after an armed police stop. Police say around 11.30am on Wednesday they received a report of a person pointing a firearm at another member of the public in Kilbirnie. Police said they then followed a vehicle of interest travelling south towards the Terrace Tunnel where an armed stop was conducted. Police conducted an armed stop in the Terrace Tunnel on Wednesday. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The northbound side of the Terrace Tunnel was temporarily closed but has now reopened to one one lane. Police have taken two people have been taken into custody. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.


Otago Daily Times
an hour ago
- Otago Daily Times
Missing student's mother flies in from US
Will Johnson who has not been heard from for a week. Photo: Supplied Private investigators trying to find a US aviation student missing for more than a week are filtering through tips they've received that could shed light on his whereabouts. Massey University student William Henry Johnson, known as Will, was last seen in Palmerston North between 30 May and 1 June. The 24-year-old's last communication with family was on 5 June and he has not responded to any attempts to contact him since. His parents have hired private investigators to find him, and on Tuesday Mike Gillam, of The Investigators New Zealand, publicly appealed for information and sightings. He told RNZ on Wednesday investigators had received information that potentially confirmed a sighting of Johnson in the central North Island. "We do want to hear from anyone with information that could be beneficial," he said. "A lot of the time is spent filtering through and sorting what may be a priority and what may be historic and not of interest to our timeline. "Certainly, we've appreciated the public outreach and there are a number of lines of inquiry that we're looking into." Johnson's mother was arriving in New Zealand from Seattle this morning. Gillam said her arrival in Palmerston North would be key, allowing her to speak with police and staff at Massey. There were no search parties in place at this stage, as more specific information would be needed, although aerial searches were under consideration. Johnson was last seen in the Takaro area of Palmerston North. Gillam said his disappearance was "really traumatising" for his family, who were distraught. His company had three investigators working on the matter full time. On Tuesday, Gillam said it was out of character for Johnson not to have contact with his family for such a period of time. Johnson was known to make off-the-cuff trips to Auckland. Police have said they received a missing person report on 9 June. "Police have made a number of various area inquiries in possible locations of interest in the Palmerston North area," a spokeswoman said today. "We would encourage William, or anyone who knows his whereabouts, to get in touch with police to confirm he is safe." Johnson drove a 2013 silver Mazda 6, registration MJK496, which was also missing and could provide leads to his whereabouts, Gillam said. Gillan can be contacted on 027 299 7603.

RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Stolen car driven towards police before hitting school bus
Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER A stolen car has collided with a school bus in Lower Hutt on Wednesday morning after evading road spikes set up by police. Police said they received reports of a stolen vehicle being driven erratically in the Eastbourne area, heading towards Lower Hutt, at about 8.30am. "Police deployed and set up spikes in an attempt to stop the vehicle." A spokesperson said the driver then swerved towards officers standing on the street, avoiding the spikes, before colliding with a school bus which continued on. "No injuries were reported and police will be following up with the bus driver." Police said they have since recovered the stolen vehicle in Lower Hutt. It will undergo a forensic examination. However, the offenders fled on foot.