Tongan family win temporary immigration reprieve after tsunami

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupted in January 2022. Photo / Tongan Geological Service

By Gill Bonnett of RNZ

A family whose home was destroyed after a volcano erupted in Tonga have been given a 12-month reprieve from deportation from New Zealand.

Their home on Tongatapu was flattened by a tsunami after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupted in January 2022.

The immigration and protection tribunal heard the father-of-three had been offered a job at a meatworks in New Zealand, but the offer was withdrawn.

The man said the firm’s lawyer claimed he had applied for an accredited employer work visa at a different company, but he strongly denied that was the case.

“The husband was stunned at hearing this because he knew that he had not applied for any other work visa,” the tribunal said of his evidence.

“He tried to investigate but his lack of English and his lack of knowledge about immigration processes made this difficult. He went to an immigration adviser who assured him that he could help.

“In fact, the adviser did nothing and the appellants’ visas expired before they realised that the adviser had let them down.”

Both the man and his wife – who worked at a business college as a secretary – had given up their jobs to move to New Zealand.

The tribunal said the destruction of the house, next to mangroves, was still visible on Google satellite images and it would be unduly harsh to deport them.

The undersea volcano eruption was the biggest there since Krakatoa in 1883, and triggered a devastating tsunami which killed three people.

The tribunal said the husband, who was employed by the Tongan Department of Corrections as a prison warder for 16 years, could seek work here.

- RNZ