The case of Daman Kumar should give us all cause to pause and reflect.
As investigative journalist Michael Morrah reported last week, the 18-year-old was born and raised in New Zealand and is now facing the very real possibility of being deported toa country he has never even visited.
When Kumar was born, his mum was in New Zealand as an overstayer and, as such, the New Zealand-born man inherited his mother’s immigration status.
With only a four-year age gap, his 22-year-old sister Radhika Kumar has been allowed to stay in the country lawfully because she was born before changes to the Citizenship Act in 2006.
The siblings’ parents have lived here around 24 years as overstayers. They have also been threatened with deportation.
“This is my home and my country. I feel a very deep connection to this country as I’ve been here my whole life and all I ask is that I’m given a chance,” he told the Herald last week, as Immigration New Zealand had told him he’d need to leave the country voluntarily by February 17 (yesterday), or he would be issued a deportation notice.
Kumar said he would have no idea how to find a job in India, given a lack of connections there and his inability to read and write Punjabi.
“If I go to India, they’re just setting me up for failure.”
His sister Radhika Kumar said the situation threatens to “rip the family apart”.
“I find that quite unfair because our whole life we’ve grown up together. I believe that the minister should definitely give my parents and my brother a chance, especially my brother, since it’s definitely not his fault,” she said.
18-year-old Daman Kumar (right) and 22-year-old Radhika Kumar (left) were both born in New Zealand. He is being threatened with deportation. Photo / Cameron Pitney
She said the family have tried to appeal to authorities by sending a “special direction” request to Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk, which was turned down by his officials.
Since Daman Kumar made the news last week, Penk’s office has now put the teen’s deportation on hold, awaiting a decision by him. That 11th-hour news was welcomed by Kumar, who had been told he’d have to leave the only country he’s ever known this week, to move to a country he’s never even visited.
While it is easier to justify a potential deportation for Kumar’s parents, it is important to keep in mind that, in his individual case, Kumar is not to blame for his immigration status. In the eyes of Immigration New Zealand (INZ), he has been in the wrong since before he was born.
An INZ document seen by the Herald declined a request for ministerial intervention.
“They are in New Zealand unlawfully and must depart at the earliest opportunity,” an INZ decision-maker said.
A spokeswoman for Penk told the Herald the matter was “operational”.
But should someone’s entire life, all they’ve ever been and known, ever be an “operational” matter? Should we restrict ourselves to a rigid set of rules and legislation that can clearly be changed to adapt to the real-life cases it is set to serve? As we all know, those rules get “relaxed” all the time, especially when the country wants to make itself look more attractive to wealthy investors. So why not relax the rules for Daman Kumar, a Kiwi by anything other than visa status?
Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk is now reviewing the case. Photo / Mike Scott
Immigration officers will go on about rules but we all know that rules have exceptions and this should definitely be one.
Ultimately, we are talking about people’s lives. Immigration New Zealand should never, under any circumstances, be in the business of separating families. Immigration is not a business, nor is it a zero-sum game.
We can hide behind laws and regulation lingo all we want but, with that, we take away the compassion and empathy that should be at the core of every single decision such as this one.
Daman Kumar is as much a New Zealander as any of his other Kiwi mates. He should not pay for the mistake his parents made – especially when the price to pay is the only life he’s ever known.
