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Immigration Minister Andrew Little wrote a letter to the Public Service Commission after it was found 115 workers had been living in 6 houses
Immigration Minister Andrew Little has ordered a review to find out if the Accredited Employer Work Visa is working properly after 115 migrants were found living in just 6 small houses.
Immigration New Zealand confirmed on Tuesday they were aware of a case of possible immigration fraud and migrant exploitation in Auckland – which involved a number of Indian and Bangladeshi nationals.
On Thursday, the Minister sent a letter to the Public Service Commission seeking to know if the AEWV was being administered properly.
“It is critical that New Zealanders have trust and confidence in the scheme and it’s administration.”
Little asked the commission to commence a review and to provide him with the findings.
Speaking to media, Little said it was important as the Minister that he was assured the right processes were in place – but that he had received some correspondence that suggested otherwise.
It was the job of management to make sure that when applications came in, either for employment accreditation or visas, that standard operating procedures were followed.
KAI SCHWOERER/STUFF
Samira Ahmed, a Canterbury Refugee Resettlement and Resources Centre board member, says the refugee resettlement system is broken, putting vulnerable people in awful situations.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said they’d started an in-depth investigation into the alleged case of Indian and Bangladeshi nationals arriving in NZ to the promise of jobs that never eventuated.
Officers had begun talking to the 115 people who were living in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in six houses across Auckland, they said.
The workers had paid a substantial amount of money for a visa and the job, but most are still waiting for paid work, the spokesperson said.
“The conditions of the accommodation were unhygienic, unsanitary, and inappropriate.”
While the investigation takes place, those affected have been checked on to ensure they have food, water and electricity.
On Tuesday, National Party Immigration Spokesperson Erica Stanford said the Government needed to properly verify documents of both the employer and the employee – rather than leaving it to a declaration based model.
“Parasites out there will exploit weakness and this is a very, very weak system”, she said.
It’s a high trust model, Stanford said, which leaves room for high risk.
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