Born in New Zealand, facing deportation to India: Punished for parents’ past?

An 18-year-old Navjot Singh, born to Indian parents in New Zealand’s Auckland, never set foot outside the country, but is now facing deportation to India after losing his bid for New Zealand residency.

Singh, born in Auckland in 2007, is considered an overstayer under current immigration laws, because he was born to parents who were staying unlawfully in the country at the time of his birth. His father was deported when Singh was just five days old, and his mother lost her legal immigration status in 2012, when Singh was five.

In a recent development reported by Radio New Zealand (RNZ), Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk declined Singh’s application for residency via ministerial intervention—a move that could have regularised his immigration status. With no other legal pathway available, Singh now faces deportation to a country (India) he has never visited.

Singh said he first learned about his situation when he was eight years old, RNZ reported. Singh has never been to school as he has not valid documents to get admission.

“I asked my mum why I wasn’t at school, and then she had to tell me,” he said. “Ever since, I’ve been living in fear. I couldn’t even be honest with my friends,” he was quoted as saying by RNZ.

Singh said he is terrified of moving to India, where he has no support network and does not speak Hindi.

“I don’t think I’ll survive in India,” he said. “I don’t speak Hindi. I’ve heard that people with higher qualifications can’t find jobs there, so what would I do?,” he added.

Singh’s case is a consequence of a law change in 2006, which ended automatic birthright citizenship in New Zealand. Under current rules, children born in New Zealand after January 1, 2006, do not gain citizenship unless at least one parent is a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident at the time of birth.

His immigration lawyer, Alastair McClymont, called the government’s decision to deport him “inhumane” and said it fails to recognise the realities faced by young people like Singh.

“It makes no sense to deport children who have grown up here to a foreign country,” McClymont told RNZ. He urged the government to reform immigration laws in line with countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, where children who have lived in the country for a decade can be granted citizenship.

Singh mentioned the struggle her mother faced in raising him, who too was without legal rights.

“Raising a child as a single mother is really tough–imagine doing that without legal status,” he said, RNZ reported.

“We only survived with the help of our friends and the community,” he added.

COMMUNITY LEADERS, POLITICIANS ASK GOVT TO REVIEW DECISION

Community leader Daljit Singh, president of the Supreme Sikh Society, and Ricardo Menndez March, immigration spokesperson for the Green Party, slammed the government for rejecting Singh’s residency request.

“When somebody told me he was 15-year-old and had never been to school, that’s something I found very difficult to digest,” Daljit Singh was quoted as saying by RNZ.

“He was born in New Zealand and is part of our community,” the community leader said.

“What harm will children like Navjot bring to New Zealand? We shouldn’t punish these children because it wasn’t their fault,” he concluded.

Green Party’s Ricardo Menndez March said deporting the kids to unfamiliar countries causes hardship and severs support networks.

“Erica Stanford has turned her back on some of the migrants most likely to face exploitation and negative impacts due to our immigration settings, which often do not provide residency pathways and treat migrants as expendable,” he said.

Phil Twyford, immigration spokesperson for the Labour Party, called on the government to review the issue and find a “better way” when it came to children of overstayers, according to the report.

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