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The Waitangi Court learned that the parents of a newborn baby had no contact with Oranga Tamariki before police officers raided her home in search of the child.
It is part of the ongoing hearing on Oranga Tamariki practices in relation to Maori children and whether they comply with Te Tiriti or Waitangi.
Manurewa’s father, Phillip Harris, who testified at the hearing, said he had no dealings with Children, Youth and Family (now called Oranga Tamariki) before they ordered the removal of his newborn son from his care three days later. of his birth in June. December 17, 2016.
“As eight or nine policemen broke into our house in Manurewa, I don’t know if they had a warrant because they didn’t show me one, they just told me to get out of the room and wait in the living room while they searched the house. .
He said he had no prior interactions with any child, youth and family social workers before the boy was taken away, and police did not tell him what they were looking for.
Police also raided the home looking for the baby on another occasion.
Harris said it took four months for a court conference to take place, where the judge ordered Children, Youth and Family to stop looking for the boy, but even after that, police tried to take the boy from Harris and his couple when they were detained at a police checkpoint.
Police said there was still an order to remove the baby and it took several calls between police and the children, youth and families before they agreed that the order had been lifted, Harris said.
“I don’t know why this had not been updated in the system or why the police were not aware of what the judge had said in the court conference a couple of weeks ago.
Harris and her mother Te Enga Harris are now the baby’s legal guardians, but she said she still can’t believe they haven’t talked to the family first.
“The whole thing made me very angry. The CYFs never spoke to us … they didn’t try to get together and discuss a plan on how we could work together, or how our whānau could take care of [REDACTED].
“They just went into full attack mode and started raiding our houses.”
Oranga Tamariki has been contacted for comment.
