Official gives reason for deportation

Press, 18 December 1985, Page 30

Official gives reason for deportation

PA Wellington A young Samoan woman deported on Saturday had to leave because she broke the law, says the Director of Immigration, Mr Don Bond. After being caught for overstaying as a visitor, Seleue Faaea had been given the opportunity to return home and make an application to come back as a permanent resident in her own right, Mr Bond said. However, she had decided not to do that, and had been apprehended, convicted, and ordered to be deported. There were three unsuccessful appeals: one to the Minister of Immigration, Mr Burke, and two to the Governor General.

Mr Bond said that people were confused about the four-child policy of the department and that seemed to be clouding the issue. The fact that she was sent home had nothing to do with that rule at all.

Her parents had made a false declaration when they first came to New Zealand, he said. They had chosen to declare only four children.

With her sister, Seleue Faaea, aged 19, came to New Zealand as a visitor in 1983, said a spokesman from the Minister’s office, Mr Harry Gibbons.

Mr Bond said that when she had asked if she could stay permanently as a member of the family, she had been told that she could not. She was told that she had not been declared as one of the children, and would have to come in her own right. % Mr Gibbons said that Mr Burke had taken a long look at the case before he had turned her appeal down.

Mr Bond said that new legislation, expected to be introduced in Parliament next year, would consider the family reunification policy. The size of families was a factor which must be included in that, he said.

Mr Gibbons said that although the details of the bill were still being worked on, it was possible that it might contain a clause which would give Seleue Faaea a chance to reapply for residence in New Zealand.