Swiss youth rests after ordeal

Press, 14 October 1986, Page 1

Swiss youth rests after ordeal

By

CATHERINE HARRIS

and PA

Thomas Battig, a Swiss youth who was initially refused entry to New Zealand on Friday, is settling in with his West Coast relatives but his luggage has gone to London. Mr Battig, aged 16, arrived in Auckland on Friday for a six-month holiday on the West Coast but did not speak sufficient English to tell immigration officials that an interpreter was waiting for him at the airport.

Because he did not have an onward air ticket or enough money for his stay, he was put on the next flight back to London but intercepted in Sydney and arrived in Christchurch late on Saturday.

After 72 hours of continuous air travel, the misplaced luggage was the final straw, said his uncle, Mr Frank Battig. However, his nephew was now settling in well.

“He still has a little bit of jet lag but he went fishing today,” said Mr Battig last evening from Lake Moeraki, in South Westland. “He is just a shy young man but he will be all right.” The luggage is on its way back to New Zealand and is expected to arrive at Hokitika tomorrow afternoon.

Mr Battig said his nephew had his name, address, and telephone number but immigration officers would not permit him to use the telephone. “The only stupid thing is, why wasn’t he allowed to make a call, just one call?”

When the Germanspeaking youth failed to arrive in Christchurch on Friday, relatives got in touch with Auckland im-

migration officials and then the Minister of Immigration, Mr Burke. Mr Burke spoke to the New Zealand Consulate in Sydney who met Mr Battig off the plane, took him home for the night, and put him on a Christ-church-bound plane the . next day. "It is incredible what Kerry Burke has done for us,” said a relieved Mr Frank Battig yesterday. He said, his nephew believed that a paper he signed at Auckland Airport would enable him to stay for 365 days in New Zealand.

“But instead they took him and chucked him on another plane.”

Mr Burke said he wanted to ensure that this kind of incident never happened again. “It is a question of getting a brief on how this happened,” he said. It was policy that persons who could not support themselves during their stay in New Zealand or did not have an ongoing ticket, would not be admitted. “But I am concerned that a young lad who has travelled from the other end of the Earth got turned round without having access to his interpreter and I want to know how this happened,” Mr Burke said. 1 Mr Battig said his nephew did not have a return fare because a Zurich travel agent had advised. his brother that this was not necessary.

“So who do we blame?” he said.

The experience. was a distressing one for a youth who had not travelled out of Switzerland before, and who spoke very little English.