A group of migrants from a tiny Vietnamese village who sold everything to move to New Zealand say they are bitterly disappointed with the lives they have found here.
They say the jobs they were promised in Auckland didn’t exist – and they fear for their lives if they are forced to return to Vietnam because a loan shark awaits them.
The group of 16 migrants, which includes eight children, are among 28 people all living in a five-bedroom home in Papatoetoe.
The group allegedly paid NZ$203,000 to an agent after responding to a Facebook advertisement for painting jobs in New Zealand paying $50 an hour under the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) scheme. They arrived to find the jobs did not exist.
The house is owned by two sisters of one of the migrants, who have 12 family members also living at the address.
Four from the group have been issued six-month Migrant Exploitation Protection Visas (MEPV) as a result of being scammed, but have not been able to find work.
They worry that changes announced by the Government this week could see them sent back when the MEPVs expire.
Tam Minh Nguyen, 45, said finding work was now “a matter of life and death” for him and his family.
He and the others from the group were from Dam Mon, a coastal village about 400 kilometres northeast of Ho Chi Minh City.
In the village, he owned a tractor and did general work earning about NZ$10 to $15 a day.
When he was told of the $50-an-hour painting job and a three-year visa that would also allow his children to attend school, Nguyen said he felt it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”.
He sold everything, including his tractor, and borrowed more than $60,000 from loan sharks to pay the agent he met on Facebook for the job offer and passage to New Zealand.
He was charged $35,000 for his visa and $15,000 each for his wife and three children.
“I calculated that, after the three years, even with all the fees I have to pay, my wife and I will have earned enough to buy land and support my family for generations,” Nguyen said.
“But now I am worried about whether I can even keep my wife, children and family alive.”
They faced constant harassment from the loan sharks to repay the debt, including threats to harm family members in Vietnam.
The Government announced this week that people applying for low-skilled level 4 and 5 jobs in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (Anzco) under the AEWV scheme must now meet a basic standard of English.
Nguyen, who speaks no English, fears that could mean he will be sent back to Vietnam once his MEPV expires.
“With this new rule, I will only have six months to earn $60,000 to repay my debt, which I think is impossible.
“I have the exploitation visa but I have no work, so the days are passing by with me having no income and the debt increasing with interest.
“If we are forced to go back, we will surely die.”
Those holding MEPVs have six months to find a job and a new employer who is prepared to sponsor them to stay in New Zealand.
About 52,000 low-skilled migrants entered the country last year, of whom nearly 900 are now on MEPVs.
Immigration New Zealand’s deputy chief operating officer, Jeannie Melville, said it could not provide details about individual migrants or its investigations into them because of privacy.
“MBIE is aware of the alleged immigration concerns and continues to be in contact with a representative for the migrants.
“At this stage, we can’t comment further as releasing details could jeopardise any investigation we pursue.”
If a scam had occurred overseas, it was unlikely to be investigated by INZ.
Meanwhile, Nguyen, his wife An Thi Nguyen, 38, and their children aged 10, 14 and 17 live in the garage of the Papatoetoe house.
Without money for food, the men go fishing while the women grow or forage for vegetables.
Sky Duong, one of the owners of the house, is trying to help the group by asking the Auckland Vietnamese business community to find them jobs – but without success.
“The threats they face if they return home with no money to repay their debt is very real,” Duong said.
“In Vietnam, the way loan sharks operate is not like here in New Zealand.”
The NZ Association of Migration and Investment (NZAMI) said the sudden announcement of policy changes to the AEWV scheme had caused panic and chaos among migrants and employers, who were caught off guard.
Chairwoman Arunima Dhingra said the imposition of English language requirements “marks a significant departure from previous policies”.
“These changes don’t take into account that many people won’t be able to apply for their AEWVs before their visa expiry dates. English test dates have delays, NZQA has massive delays.
“It means people will have no choice but either to leave the country or become unlawful or apply for visitor visas to remain lawful while they meet these new requirements. This would then bottle up INZ and officers will need to assess them as exceptions to instructions.”
The AEWV is the main temporary work visa in New Zealand, which follows an employer-led process to hire migrant workers.
As of April 8, INZ had approved 116,759 AEWV applications and there were 34,440 accredited employers.
MBIE has received 2625 complaints against accredited employers and 199 active investigations into accredited employers are under way.
INZ would not confirm whether Do Painters Ltd, the accredited company linked to the sponsorship of visas for the Vietnamese group, had had its accreditation revoked.
However, a check by the Herald found the company was no longer on INZ’s list of accredited employers. Do Painters was approached for comment.
To date, 224 employers have had their accreditation revoked and 76 suspended.
A further 50 employers are being assessed for having their accreditation revoked and four for suspension.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said the immediate changes to the AEWV would ensure New Zealand was attracting the skills it needed and reduce the vulnerability of migrants to exploitation.
As well as the language requirement, the changes include a minimum skills and work experience threshold for most AEWV roles and a reduction of the maximum continuous stay for most low-skilled roles from five years to three.
Stanford said the Government would not consider an exemption or grace period for those on exploitation protection visas for low-skilled jobs who did not meet the language requirement.
INZ said it encouraged anyone who thought they could be the victim of immigration fraud or exploitation to call Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
“We take all alleged immigration fraud seriously, whether it is a case of one individual or a case involving many,” Melville said.
Reporter Martha and friends are in Minginui introducing us to their favourite four-legged neighbours, wild but friendly horses that have had free reign of the place since 1870.