Charges dropped against deportee who escaped from Auckland police custody

Charges were dropped against a Chinese worker who escaped from police custody en route to deportation Thursday night, said the worker’s attorney Matt Robson.

The 39-year-old is among 10 workers facing deportation after a New Zealand immigration operation (INZ) on March 23 found them working illegally on construction sites in Auckland.

Things he understands that seven of this group are still being held in Auckland’s Mt Eden Prison on compromise orders.

This despite calls from Unite Union, Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March and Matt Robson of Immigration New Zealand (INZ) to stop the deportation and investigate the exploitative circumstances of the workers’ employment.

READ MORE:
* The green deputy urges the immigration minister to stop the deportation of 10 illegal workers
* Illegal workers facing deportation say they did not have the opportunity to communicate with lawyers
* Ten construction workers are still in police custody, most will be deported next month

A police accusation document, spotted by Things, confirm that the man escaped from custody on his way to be deported to China on Thursday night. He said that due to the man’s behavior and background, he was not handcuffed and had opened the vehicle door to escape.

He said the defendant said he wanted to collect some money that was owed to him as a reason to escape.

The man surrendered to the Auckland City Police Station on Friday morning, where he was arrested.

After the charges were dropped, he is now in pre-trial detention again, police confirm.

Robson, who was ready to ask for bail for the man in court this morning, said a phone call to the prosecutor before the hearing led to the charges being dropped.

“It totally confused the courts,” he said.

Robson said the prosecutor would not confirm whether the decision came from Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi, but told him that “we have to make our own decisions.”

Robson said that, given the seriousness of the decision, “it can only come from above” and believes the order came from the minister.

Peter Stevens, Kris Faafoi’s press secretary, did not respond. Things questions about whether the decision to drop the charges came from the minister. He referred Things to INZ.

“As the minister has said in connection with this case, the ministers are not involved in decisions related to enforcement,” Stevens said.

INZ has also been contacted for comment.

Robson said the worker was in a very “downcast” state this morning.

“He followed his instincts, got out of the car, started walking, [and] he wanted to recover his property and the money owed [in wages],” he said.

Robson said that even though the hearing was suspended, the worker still asked to address the court and asked to stay in New Zealand, so that he could recover the large sums he paid to get here.

He said the worker’s situation, along with others awaiting deportation, “meets all the definitions of being exploited.”

Both Robson and Unite Union had advocated that Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi and Associate Immigration Minister Phil Twyford called for the release of the nine workers in Unite Union’s care.

Workers detained at Mt Eden Prison previously said Things each paid between $ 10,000 and $ 30,000 each through a Chinese agent to obtain visitor visas.

They said they were paid in cash in New Zealand without contracts. Their hourly rates range from $ 20 to $ 26. One worker said he made between $ 8 and $ 10 an hour.

On Thursday Ricardo Menéndez March had written an urgent letter to the Minister of Immigration, Kris Faafoi, asking him to stop the deportation.

The letter called on Faafoi to keep the fire going “until a full investigation into the possible exploitation of migrants has been carried out.”

But Faafoi said the investigation into the possible exploitation can be carried out “without the need for the men to remain in New Zealand.”