Interview - Migrant Exploitation
The following is an extract from an article published on the Radio New Zealand website on 28 August 2023. Paul Janssen (Immigration Specialist) with Turner Hopkins Services provides his thoughts on the current issue of migrant exploitation and the AEWV system.
“This week on Voices, an exclusive interview with the company Buildhub, against whom a group of South American migrants have been making complaints with regards to several job contracts they signed, as part of the Accredited Employers Work Visa (AEWV).
In this episode we also speak to some of the complainants who allege mistreatment by the company and that they were not given the jobs or number of work hours they believed they had sign contracts for, in their home countries of Chile, Peru and Colombia.
Several people from the group of families interviewed by Voices, said they are desperate and struggling to make ends meet in Auckland. Many are living off favours and borrowed money to support themselves and their family, and their hopes of new life in New Zealand have been completely shattered. Some of the migrants have been given the Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa now based on their reports of being being exploited by their employer. The MEPV gives them a period of 6 months to remain in New Zealand while their claims are being investigated.
Buildhub defends its position that it has complied by contractual terms and rules by Immigration New Zealand. The company's Commercial Administrator, Ricardo Corona-Perez, says 92% of its recruits have work and only 8% are not working – and that’s because they either resigned or were dismissed.
The visa is now being reviewed by Immigration New Zealand. Paul Janssen, licensed Immigration Advisor says that while the AEWV is a smart idea, there hasn't been the due diligence required to ensure it is a robust scheme. He says it will be tricky to discern between complainants who may be taking advantage of the system, to those who may have been genuinely ripped off by accredited employers. With several claims of exploitation coming to light in the past month, he says "this is not the image we want to put out". Kadambari Raghukumar, Producer
To listen to the full audio interview, click here or on the image below: (link to RNZ).
