Hyderabad: Students from Hyderabad and Punjab who were served deportation notices for fraudulent visa documents by New Zealand’s immigration authorities, have pleaded with the New Zealand government to rethink the deportation move. Support for the illegal immigrants has been coming from church groups, NGOs and opposition parties. According to Anu Kaloti of Migrant Workers Association of Aotearoa, the students have sought sanctuary at the Auckland Unitarian Church.
In a press release, many of the church leaders have appealed to the Prime Minister Bill English for help. “As leaders of our three Churches we wish to publicly state our concern about the proposed deportation of several Indian students for falsification of their visa papers. We do not believe they intended to deceive the NZ government in this way. Having looked at their situation it seems to us that these students have been duped by unscrupulous immigration agents in India. In previous similar cases we understand that where documentation had been deemed falsified by immigration agents then the group was allowed to stay,” Archbishop Philip Richardson said. “We urge the government to re-consider the case of these students. We do so on the basis of concern for the human situation of the students,” Cardinal John Dew said.
