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Parminder Singh remains inside Mt Eden Prison.
He’s facing a Christmas behind bars with hardened criminals, but Parminder Singh says he’s just trying to avoid catching Covid-19.
The Indian visa has been in Mt Eden Prison for 48 days without charge and with no release date in sight, as Immigration New Zealand holds it in a 28-day series of ‘Compromise Order’.
Singh, a construction project manager who last had a valid visa in 2015, was due to be deported after immigration raided his home in Manukau, but submitted an asylum application saying he feared dying from Covid-19 in India.
Anyone who claims refugee status cannot be deported until their case is heard and it can take three years to resolve.
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So Immigration has kept him in prison, claiming that he runs the risk of escape and that it is in the public interest to stop him.
Singh’s father, Sukhwinder, 64, also stayed longer and was detained in the raid after he was discovered hiding under a bed. He also filed an asylum claim, but withdrew it after struggling to get by in prison. He was deported on November 26.
Singh’s last warrant hearing was to take place on December 9 at Auckland District Court. Among those planning to attend were his wife, his immigration advisor Tuariki Delamere, and a Things reporter.
Instead, Singh’s wife says he received no warning before he was brought to court on December 7, where his only support was a lawyer on duty.
Immigration says Delamere was informed on December 4 of the date change.
Singh’s court order was renewed for ten days, until December 17, instead of standard 28, which gave Immigration the opportunity to obtain another 28-day court order to cover the Christmas closure, rather than release him. . If they get that court order, Singh will have been in prison for 83 days when it expires.
Supplied
An entry from immigration officer Siddhant Choksi’s notebook was used as evidence in the department’s case for an arrest warrant for the people who stayed the longest, Sukhwinder and Parminder Singh.
His wife, a New Zealand citizen who spoke on condition of anonymity, is sure it was a deliberate tactic. “He didn’t get any warning, and neither did I … nor were we able to notify anyone.”
She believes Singh should be released while his asylum application is heard. “This makes no sense. Parminder said the judge didn’t even blink, he just approved the order and that was it. “
Talking to Things From Mt Eden prison before the last hearing, Parminder Singh said he was frustrated that Immigration could use discretion, but had not exercised it in his case.
“I am in a prison with kidnappers and drug dealers and I don’t think I belong here,” he said.
“The compliance department filings say he ‘only applied for asylum after being arrested.’ I think they are trying me before my asylum case is decided, but it is not the job of the compliance department to do so.
“I really feel like if I fly back I could catch Covid and die.”
Singh says he told Immigration that he is ready to go home voluntarily once India controls the Covid-19 pandemic.
Delamere, a former immigration minister, said he believed Immigration was committing perjury by telling the court that Singh was a flight risk, and said it was “foolish …” to claim that it was in the public interest to detain Singh in prison. at the taxpayer’s expense.
“He is not a violent criminal – he is an exaggeration,” Delamere said. “The public interest is not served by keeping him in prison at a cost of $ 100,000 a year. I don’t think the law should be used to keep him in prison indefinitely … I don’t think that was the intent of the law.
“This is because they are p ….. he applied for asylum, but what he has done is legal.”
DILEEPA FONSEKA / THINGS
Former immigration minister Tuariki Delamere represents Parminder Singh and says the process is chaotic.
Delamere said challenging the court order was a waste of time because the law was written to leave little discretion to judges.
Immigration NZ said they “continue to review Parminder Singh’s detention on a regular basis”, saying that “in deciding whether detention in a correctional facility is appropriate, INZ considers each individual’s unique circumstances on an ongoing basis, including identity, safety and security considerations and your immigration, travel and employment history. “
