Policeman helps refugee children in airport wait

By HELEN TUNNAH

An airport policeman bought burgers and drinks and set up beds for two children who were kept at Auckland Airport for more than a day because their family's refugee claim could not be checked.

Both children were under 5. They were with their father and mother, who was six months pregnant.

They were held at the airport for a day and a half because an interpreter was not available for an interview.

The family, who were later temporarily detained, arrived in the country late last year and are still in New Zealand. Their immigration status was not known last night.

Corrections and Associate Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Robson said he was "very concerned" at the incident, which was outlined in a report on the detention of refugee claimants.

He said it might be time for an overhaul of refugee policies.

"I don't want the agencies to be blamed for shortcomings," he said.

"There has to be a system where some people may have to be imprisoned, but if it becomes a case where those who are seeking asylum are held in large numbers, then we have to get a better system."

Mr Robson made inquiries after two asylum seekers, aged 16 and 17, were held in jail for a week last year.

He said yesterday that the police and the Corrections Department were not given the resources to deal with refugees.

He has asked officials to investigate whether New Zealand was meeting its international obligations for the treatment of people claiming to be refugees.

The report said the policeman bought the children food because the family had no money.

He organised beds for the children when he saw them sleeping on the airport floor.

The report said other asylum seekers said they had also been bought food by police, and airport workers had found them blankets during long waits for immigration interviews.

The report, prepared by the Human Rights Foundation, Refugee Council of New Zealand and paid for by Amnesty International, said one refugee claimant had been attacked by four inmates while detained in jail.

It outlined a lack of co-ordination between services dealing with asylum seekers, and a poor knowledge of international and New Zealand laws relating to the treatment of them.

It recommended that Government departments work together to develop a fair and comprehensive refugee policy.

Green MP Keith Locke yesterday persuaded the Government to soften bail clauses contained in a new law, which could lead to more refugee claimants being conditionally released from detention.

The law also introduced a $500,000 fine and or a 20-year jail term for people smugglers.

It comes as Australian intelligence reports that more boatpeople might be considering sailing across the Pacific, possibly to New Zealand.

A wooden fishing boat, with 34 people on board and reportedly wanting to sail for Australia or New Zealand, remained in Indonesian territorial waters last night.

The law change coincides with a legal challenge in the High Court to the Government's policy of detaining almost all refugee claimants, introduced after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Justice David Baragwanath has already indicated the detentions break New Zealand's United Nations obligations, and in an interim decision said asylum seekers could apply for bail.

The Crown is appealing against the bail decision.

Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel said the Government was aware the issue was before the court, and more law changes might be necessary.

Feature: Immigration