Syrian wins asylum fight

Photo / Supplied.

A Syrian who lied and used a false passport to get his family into New Zealand has had his convictions quashed and has been told they can all stay.

In what is believed a legal first, the Court of Appeal has overturned the convictions on the grounds the man genuinely believed he would receive refugee status and so had a reasonable excuse to use a false passport.

His name is suppressed.

He and his family arrived at Auckland Airport on false Belgian passports.

The man told authorities they were asylum-seekers and he was wanted by the Syrian Government for stealing politically sensitive material from a military officer.

In July last year the man was found guilty by a Manukau District Court jury of two charges of possessing false passports relating to their entry into the country. He was sentenced to two years and three months in prison.

Judge Roy Wade told the jury the man was "a bogus refugee from day one".

But Appeal Court Justices Grant Hammond, Terence Arnold and Lynton Stevens said Wade had answered a question for the jury which was for it to determine. They also noted that many, if not most, asylum-seekers were forced to leave their countries on false documents.