Ex-African pair granted permanent residence

Press, 23 September 1987, Page 4

Ex-African pair granted permanent residence

PA Wellington Two East Africans who came to New Zealand in the famine relief ship Ngahere in mid-1985 have been granted permanent residence. Sudi Sead Said, aged 17, and Andrew Godfrey Mhando, aged 23, had been on temporary entry permits since their arrival in New Zealand, said the Minister of Immigration, Mr Rodger yesterday. Both young men were living in Auckland, where Mr Said was a student at Sacred Heart College in West Tamaki and Mr Mhando was a home appliance repair technician in Mount RoskilL

The two boarded the Ngahere in East Africa.

Mr Said and Mr Mhando were given temporary permits and since then had assimilated easily into the community, with the help of church groups and other organisations in Auckland. The Government’s decision to give the two permanent residence was no sign that it was softening its stand on people who tried to enter New Zealand by improper or illegal means. “The circumstances in this case were unique,” Mr Rodger said. “They were unauthorised passengers in the Ngahere, rather than stowaways, and they have settled in well in their new environment

“On humanitarian grounds, it is appropriate that we now allow them to remain here”.