Immigration law changes sought

Press, 13 August 1986, Page 3

Immigration law changes sought

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington Changes to immigration laws have been ’ recommended by the Race Relations Conciliator, Mr Wally Hirsch. A report on immigration policies and enforcement was handed to the Government yesterday. In March newspaper allegations were made about discrimination in immigration procedures. Mr Hirsch’s report identifies a number of aspects of law and policy which have worked in “an unsatisfactory ■ way."

The Minister of Immigration, Mr Burke, said that some of the recommendations might be Included in the draft immigration legislation the Government was considering.

The report contains 13 important recommendations:

Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa should be brought under a visa-abolition agreement The criteria applicable to temporary entry permits should be applied uniformly and . made known to the public.

Procedures for obtaining extensions to temporary permits should be applied consistently by district offices.

The system of sponsorships should be reviewed by the Labour Department in consultation with Pacific Island groups. The department should ensure greater accuracy in its system of identifying and recording overstayers. The department should remove those procedures

which result in certain categories of overstayers being pursued more actively than others. The provision of search and arrest powers to immigration officers should be deleted from the proposed immigration legislation. Appeals against deportation should be considered by a committee that includes representatives of Pacific Island communities. The situation whereby someone may be arrested when reporting to a police station, help in custody and then sent to their home country should be investigated. The sensitive nature of immigration work should be recognised in terms of staff training and work conditions. Staff should attend

cross-cultural awareness courses early in their employment with the department Paid, full-time interpreters should be employed by the department There should be a formal investigation and review of all aspects of immigration control. Mr Burke said the report had raised features not being covered by the draft legislation and these recommendations would be .followed up urgently. The report had highlighted the outdated and inflexible provisions of the 1964 legislation which imposed an unnecessary "criminal” dimension on immigration matters. This added to the already heavy pressures on courts and put great stress

on the individuals concerned, he said.

He was surprised that the report ignored the fact that visitors of some nationalities tended to overstay in much higher proportion to their numbers than other nationalities. It could not be escaped that while visitors from the South Pacific constituted only 4.5 per cent of total tourist traffic to New Zealand, they were about 40 per cent of the total overstayer population. Mr Burke said the motivation of these people wanting to stay was entirely understandable, but that did not make the practical problem of coping with such illegal migration and its employment consequences any easier. , '