Syrian dad desperate to bring children to safety in NZ

Mr Barghach, 47, has been in New Zealand since 2013 with his Kiwi second wife, Kareana Kee, a personal assistant to Auckland councillor Christine Fletcher. Photo / Dean Purcell

Syrian father Ahmad Barghach is desperate to bring his four children to join him in Auckland - but he's not finding it easy.

His two sons, now aged 22 and 18, were kidnapped and given electric shocks by a gang in Yemen, who made them withdraw all their money from their bank.

His two daughters, 16 and 11, fled to Turkey about four months ago but have faced racist hostility from some locals who resent the influx of Syrian refugees.

Mr Barghach, 47, has been in New Zealand since 2013 with his Kiwi second wife, Kareana Kee, a personal assistant to Auckland councillor Christine Fletcher. His four children, all from his first marriage, stayed with their mother in his home town of Abukamal on Syria's border with Iraq, now controlled by Isis (Islamic State).

They fled to join him in Saudi Arabia, where he was working, when the Syrian uprising broke out in 2010. They had to leave there and moved to Yemen when their father came to New Zealand, and fled again to Turkey after Saudi Arabia began bombing Yemen on March 26 this year.

That day Mr Barghach heard that Associate Immigration Minister Craig Foss had turned down a humanitarian appeal to give the four children permits to visit New Zealand.

They have borrowed $10,000 to apply for permanent residence for the four children. The case has gone to Immigration New Zealand's immigration profiling branch, which handles high-risk countries, and a decision may take up to a year.

Mr Barghach has been unable to find a job in instrumentation engineering and works double shifts at a Turkish restaurant to send money to Turkey. His ex-wife has given her consent for the children to move to New Zealand. Simon Collins