Latest news with #GillBonnett
Otago Daily Times
12 hours ago
- Politics
- 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.
Otago Daily Times
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Immigration NZ alerted to child smuggling, families adopting more than 10 kids
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.
Otago Daily Times
19-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Children 'put into slavery' after adopted from overseas
By Gill Bonnett of RNZ 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 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 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: Salvation Army support for survivors of trafficking: modernslaveryresponse@ NZ Police. Victim Support 0800 842 846. Rape Crisis: 0800 88 33 00. Rape Prevention Education. Empowerment Trust. HELP (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655. Safe to talk: 0800 044 334. Tautoko Tāne Male Survivors Aotearoa.
Otago Daily Times
18-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Children 'put into slavery' after adopted from overses
By Gill Bonnett of RNZ 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 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 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: Salvation Army support for survivors of trafficking: modernslaveryresponse@ NZ Police. Victim Support 0800 842 846. Rape Crisis: 0800 88 33 00. Rape Prevention Education. Empowerment Trust. HELP (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655. Safe to talk: 0800 044 334. Tautoko Tāne Male Survivors Aotearoa.
Otago Daily Times
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Dangerous refugees would lose residency under new law
By Gill Bonnett of RNZ Refugees' residence visas will be cancelled if they pose a risk to national security, under government legislation introduced last month. A review following a suspected terrorist attack in an Auckland supermarket four years ago found it was not possible under international law to take immigration action against refugees who security services believed were dangerous. Even after Ahamed Samsudeen's refugee status was cancelled in 2019 due to fraud - discrepancies in his asylum claim - it was believed he would still qualify as a protected person under the Immigration Act, and so it was unlikely he could be deported. That meant he also could not be detained after his time in prison, and in the two months before the LynnMall attack in 2021 security services and the police could only monitor his movements. He seriously injured four women and a man with a knife during the attack at Countdown in LynnMall before he was shot dead by police who were following him. Former justice minister Andrew Little said in the wake of the attack there was an "intolerable tension" in protecting someone who risked the lives of others. The government introduced a law which made the planning or preparation of a terrorist act a criminal offence. The new legislation, introduced last month, would still not allow would-be terrorists to be deported - but they could have their residence visas cancelled and replaced with temporary ones. Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said international law will not allow a protected person to be deported. "I don't think there's a single person in New Zealand that wouldn't be upset about that. But New Zealand, as many other countries that we compare ourselves to who uphold international law, are caught in the same very, very difficult position - we're trapped because we can't deport them, because of the risk to their life. "But when they are here, of course, they're the not the type of person we would prefer to be here. So that really does come down to doing everything we can - stripping them of their residence, putting them on temporary class visas and ensuring that police are monitoring them." Without residence and potentially citizenship, if the situation in their home country changed they could be deported, she said - and not having residence might also make them weigh up their future. "I hope that they would be in a far more restricted and uncertain place, that they would likely leave themselves. Or potentially, make them think twice about the activity that they're going to do in the first place, because we are not going to protect you to the same level that we were before, in terms of giving you a residence class visa and allowing you to buy a house, sponsor family members and all those things. It will be more restrictive and so, hopefully they'll think twice, and then secondly, hopefully they will self-deport." But immigration lawyer Stewart Dalley said he did not see the point of the change, and called it an empty gesture. "The only thing served by cancelling the residence visa is that the person cannot vote or sponsor somebody else for a visa. They will also not be able to purchase a house, but the reality is that a lot of people can't afford to buy a house in New Zealand." He suggested the government should await the outcome of the upcoming inquest into Ahamed Samsudeen before designing policies to address similar situations. "I'm conscious that you don't make friends by appearing to support people who pose a risk to the country. But what's proposed here doesn't serve anything and doesn't serve to protect New Zealanders. If the hope is to make things so bad for the person that they'll leave the country, you've got a question how likely is it that the person who has a credible threat of torture and death in the home country is going to leave New Zealand in those circumstances?" 'Protect the community' However, Waikato university law professor Alexander Gillespie welcomed the move, and wanted to see firmer action. "99.9% of refugees are never in that situation where they represent a threat to our country, and I firmly believe we should do more to accept more refugees from overseas. But if you allow people in or allow them to stay, if they are a threat to the community, it's not only the damage that they do to the community, it's the damage that they do to future refugees." He hopes the inquest may look at whether Samsudeen 'gamed' the system in becoming a refugee, and whether people in his situation should be deported. "I'll be interested to see whether there are recommendations about being able to exit people who are clearly a threat to the community. Even though you may have a risk to a refugee, if there's a risk to the wider community that they're sitting in, the balance should be on protecting the community." Documents released in the aftermath of the LynnMall attack showed Samseudeen asked immigration officials to revoke his residence, and told them to hurry up his deportation. But the 32-year-old later fought attempts to send him back to Sri Lanka, where he said he had been abducted with his father by a paramilitary group linked to the guerrilla organisation Tamil Tigers. Questions remain over whether he was planning to fight in Syria when he was arrested before a flight to Singapore, and if - and when - he had been radicalised. He appeared on the security service (SIS) radar in 2015 because of Facebook posts and police found a knife and extremist material at his home, which a judge said showed his interest in ISIS, or Islamic State A criminologist who deemed the LynnMall attacker 'low risk' in 2018 believed there were missed opportunities to steer him away from violent extremism, saying he was marginalised and depressed.
