Jailed Iranians face deportation

An untested provision of the Refugees Convention may enable the Government to deport immigrants granted refugee status who are convicted of serious crimes here.

At least two Iranians with refugee status are serving long jail sentences for smuggling the class A drug methamphetamine.

Article 33.1 of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees bans expelling a refugee to anywhere where he may be in danger on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

But article 33.2 provides exceptions including where a person has "been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, [and] constitutes a danger to the community of that country".

Saeid Vadati and Behnam Rahimi, serving 7 1/2 years and nine years prison respectively for smuggling methamphetamine, are Iranians who were granted refugee status.

Another in that category, Amir Loft Avar, has absconded while on bail on similar charges. Police suspect he has fled overseas on false documents.

Immigration lawyers spoken to by the Weekend Herald said issues a court would have to assess included what force the convention held in New Zealand law, whether drug dealing reached the standard of posing "a danger" to the community, and how the Convention Against Torture, to which New Zealand is also a signatory, applied to a particular case.

Lawyer David Ryken said an arguable case could be made under article 33.2 and he suspected drug dealing would reach the standard of a danger to the community.

But he believed the section was aimed more at those involved in terrorism.

The Department of Labour said Articles 33.2 and 32.1 (which deals with national security) ensure New Zealand retains the right to remove any refugee that posed a threat to the country or the community.

Department spokeswoman Mary Anne Thompson said that although no one had been expelled from New Zealand under the provisions, these would be invoked if there were reasonable grounds for regarding a refugee as a danger to the security of New Zealand or, if one was convicted of a particularly serious crime, he was regarded as constituting a danger to the community.

What constitutes a particularly serious crime and who would be regarded as a danger to the community is decided case by case, looking at all the circumstances.

If Articles 32.1 and 33.2 were invoked, the refugee would usually complete his prison sentence before removal. He would not lose his refugee status, which may only be removed if fraudulently obtained.

Mr Ryken said serious criminals who had fabricated cases to gain refugee status were more likely to have that status cancelled because police and Customs investigations which led to the criminal convictions produced evidence of the fabrication.

Immigration Service figures obtained under the Official Information Act show that in the six months to June 30, eight Iranians had their refugee status cancelled, cancellation proceedings commenced against a further 22 and the Refugee Status Appeals Authority was asked to reconsider three cases in which it granted refugee status.


Refugees and the law
* New Zealand is a signatory to an international convention which protects refugees from being expelled.
* But there are exemptions, particularly if a refugee lied about his or her background to become accepted.
* A grey area of the law concerns refugees convicted of serious crimes in NZ, which could apply to two Iranians jailed for drug smuggling.