Layeeq Baig spent some of his time in NZ travelling around the country. Photo / Supplied
A Hawke's Bay District Health Board employee who went to India to see his dying father and hasn't been allowed to return is now asking the New Zealand government to return the taxes he's paid in the year he's been away.
A spokesperson for the immigration minister says many are in the same position as Layeequlla Baig due to the pandemic's longstanding disruptions, but it's not appropriate to comment on individual cases.
Baig, a procurement specialist for the DHB, is currently living in Chennai after leaving New Zealand on October 27, 2020, to see his ailing father who had contracted Covid-19.
His father has since died.
Hawke's Bay DHB chief executive Keriana Brooking has described Baig as a "valued employee" whose skills were "sorely missed" in the region.
Baig, who moved to Hawke's Bay in 2015, said resident Work Visa holders who left NZ between December 1, 2019, and October 9, 2020, could apply for a request to travel back but he left on October 27, 2020.
"This has not changed ever since."
Since then, he has made a concerted effort to return home to Hawke's Bay to no avail, including applying under the humanitarian category stating the reasons he had to leave NZ and making a desperate request to come back.
His request was declined.
He also applied under the "Other Critical Worker" category with a letter of support from Hawke's Bay DHB and from the local MP, Anna Lorck, and his application was once again declined, citing policy.
He applied for a Request to Travel as the difference between the cut-off date was only 18 days but this was categorically declined, citing policy.
He also applied for humanitarian reasons, where he enclosed his public petition with 230 signatories of the Hawke's Bay community, but it was also declined.
"All this while I have been working for an accredited employer, Hawke's Bay District Health Board, remotely and paying my taxes in full."
He said with all his options dried up on November 15, which is when his visa expired, his livelihood was "destroyed, as well as my hopes of coming back home to Hawke's Bay".
He said in a letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern that the Government, with its actions, had "implicitly" declared that he was a "fool" to have left the country to see his dying father.
"You have abandoned me and hundreds of other migrants without considering the time they have lived in NZ, their contributions to their community or even if they were still working for a NZ organisation or have applied for their residency...
"Where is your kindness, empathy and humanity now? ... Clearly, we were never part of the team of five million."
He wanted the Government to have the "basic decency" to return his taxes for the year that he has been working remotely.
"Adding salt to injury, your immigration department will not even refund the residency fees which I have paid."
He said his reaction was not aimed towards the "beautiful, genuine and empathetic people of the community of Hawke's Bay", or his colleagues and friends who have supported him through this tough time.
The Prime Minister's office directed questions to the Immigration Minister, and said they could not comment on individual constituent's cases without getting in touch with them first.
A spokesperson for Minister of Immigration Kris Faafoi said there were many people who have had their lives disrupted by Covid-19 and the restrictions, like current border closures.
The restrictions had been necessary to limit the worst impacts of the global pandemic, but the Minister did not want to comment on individual cases, the spokesperson said.