Indian Newslink July 1 2018 Digital Edition

JULY 1, 2018
02 Homelink
Immigration lawyer wants offshore education agents regulated
Venkat Raman
venkat@indiannewslink.co.nz
An Immigration lawyer has called on
the government to regulate offshore
education agents and protect international
students being exploited.
Auckland based Alastair McClymont of Mc-
Clymont Associates (Barristers & Solicitors)
said in a statement that the New Zealand
immigration system does not include specific
mechanisms to regulate offshore education
agents.
He was reacting to a decision of Chief
Ombudsman Peter Boshier not to proceed
with acomplaint filed by his firm against
Immigration New Zealand (INL) for deporting
a large group of Indian students in 2017
and 2018. Indian Newslink had carried news
relating to this issue in its print and web
editions and social media.
Deported Indian students
INL had earlier said that the students were
deported because they had provided false or
misleading information while applying for
student visas to study in New Zealand.
The students had contended that the
information was provided by their education
agents and that they were unaware of such
information.
A McClymont Associates press release
was published in its entirety on our website,
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn on June 27,
2018.
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Alastair McClymont
In his seven-page letter, Mr
Boshier said that he was satisfied
that INZ had followed the
necessary investigations and
procedures before deciding to
deport the students.
But he criticised the
Department’s policy and
methodology in processing
student visa applications and
noted that the Government
decided not to put in place any
mechanism to regulate or to
monitor the actions of these
fraudulent agents.
Review of applications
As a consequence of the
Ombudsman’s investigation
INZ has offered to review
the files of 213 student visa
applications.
Associate Immigration Minister
Kris Faafoi has agreed to
personally reconsider seven
applications in addition to the
213 INZ has offered to audit.
But Mr McClymont said that
neither the Ombudsman’s decision
nor the undertaking of
the Minister went far enough
to address the problem.
“More needs to be done.
If there is no evidence that
the applicants were active
participants in the fraud, their
original visa status should be
reinstated. The National Government
created this mess. I
am now asking our current
government to show compassion
and act humanely.
“The Government has
also held Indian student visa
applicants solely responsible
for the fraudulent documents
that their Indian-based agents
and advisors submitted to
Immigration New Zealand on
their behalf – even if the students
had no knowledge of the
contents of these documents,”
he said.
Education providers
responsible
Mr McClymont directed the
responsibility of the dodgy
Indian education agents to
the education providers in
New Zealand, who recruit,
manage and pay the Indian
agents to recruit the students.
The students can choose from
a selection of the schools’
agents, but they don’t pay the
agents – the schools pay the
agents.
He claimed that Indian
students are being targeted for
deportation in greater numbers
than other nationalities.
“And this is despite Tongans,
Samoans and Chinese overstaying
in higher numbers.
This can only be happening if
there is a racial bias against
Indian students and work visa
applicants. Indian work visas
are being declined at a rate
10% higher than Chinese applicants
in the same position,”
he said.
Unfortunate scapegoats
Mr McClymont said that the
Government is using Indian
students as a scapegoat similar
to the way that US President
Donald Trump is targeting
Mexicans as ‘bad people.’
“INZ is targeting Indians for
deportation because it claims
they belong to a demographic
group that has been identified
as risk of exploitation.”
The INZ Compliance and
Investigations Unit has been
modelling data of overstayers
to determine which groups
most often incur hospital
costs, overstay their visa or are
involved in criminal activity.
Its harm team has been using
data such as past overstayers’
convictions and unpaid
hospital debts to contribute to
its data model, he said.
Please read our Editorial,
‘Are Indian students naïve
and vulnerable?’ under
Viewlink on Page 12
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi
National ListMPbasedd in
Manukau East
Contact
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09 278 9302
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