Tag: immigration

Categories
-Top News EU News Europe

New French PM Signals Rightward Shift, Takes Hard Line On Immigration

Michel Barnier’s government, which lacks a clear majority in a hung lower house of parliament, may include conservatives as well as members of Macron’s camp, reports Asian Lite News

France’s newly appointed Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, has signalled his position will be titled towards the right, as he said he will toughen the government’s stance on immigration and will defend some of President Emmanuel Macron’s policies, Al Jazeera reported.

Barnier said on Friday that his government, which lacks a clear majority in a hung lower house of parliament, will include conservatives as well as members of Macron’s camp.

He, however, said that members from other groups, including the left, are also welcome to back the new government. “There is no red line,” Barnier said, adding: “We need to open the door…to all those who want it.”

In a surprise pick, Macron, named 73-year-old Barnier, a conservative and the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator, as prime minister on Thursday, putting an end to a two-month political deadlock created after his ill-fated decision to call snap legislative elections that delivered an unruly hung parliament.

Barnier faces the daunting task of trying to drive reforms and the 2025 budget through that parliament as France is under pressure from the European Commission and bond markets to reduce its deficit, Al Jazeera reported.

Signalling his readiness to hold up some of Macron’s widely unpopular reform policies, which likely includes taking political risks, Barnier said he was not prepared to repeal the rise of the retirement age to 64 from 62 — a decision that had sparked massive protests in France last year.

“We must not call into question this law, which was adopted in very difficult circumstances,” Barnier said but added he was prepared to adjust the policy to better protect what he called “the most vulnerable”.

The left-wing New Popular Front and the far-right National Rally (RN), which together have a majority and could oust the prime minister through a no-confidence vote if they collaborate, had campaigned strongly against the reform.

Barnier also signalled taking a rightward shift on some issues, as he said he would pursue tougher policies to curb immigration. “There still is a feeling that our borders are sieves and that migration flows aren’t being controlled,” he said, adding: “I don’t have much in common with the ideologies of the National Rally, but I respect it.”

Earlier, Macron’s political rivals alleged Marine Le Pen’s party was exerting outsize power over the president, who nominated Barnier with the tacit support of the far right after spending weeks looking for a candidate who would not immediately be toppled by a majority of lawmakers, Al Jazeera reported.

The RN gave tentative support to Barnier’s nomination by saying it would not immediately try to vote it down

Categories
-Top News EU News Europe

New French PM Signals Rightward Shift, Takes Hard Line On Immigration

Michel Barnier’s government, which lacks a clear majority in a hung lower house of parliament, may include conservatives as well as members of Macron’s camp.

France’s newly appointed Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, has signalled his position will be titled towards the right, as he said he will toughen the government’s stance on immigration and will defend some of President Emmanuel Macron’s policies, Al Jazeera reported.

Barnier said on Friday that his government, which lacks a clear majority in a hung lower house of parliament, will include conservatives as well as members of Macron’s camp.

He, however, said that members from other groups, including the left, are also welcome to back the new government. “There is no red line,” Barnier said, adding: “We need to open the door…to all those who want it.”

In a surprise pick, Macron, named 73-year-old Barnier, a conservative and the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator, as prime minister on Thursday, putting an end to a two-month political deadlock created after his ill-fated decision to call snap legislative elections that delivered an unruly hung parliament.

Barnier faces the daunting task of trying to drive reforms and the 2025 budget through that parliament as France is under pressure from the European Commission and bond markets to reduce its deficit, Al Jazeera reported.

Signalling his readiness to hold up some of Macron’s widely unpopular reform policies, which likely includes taking political risks, Barnier said he was not prepared to repeal the rise of the retirement age to 64 from 62 — a decision that had sparked massive protests in France last year.

“We must not call into question this law, which was adopted in very difficult circumstances,” Barnier said but added he was prepared to adjust the policy to better protect what he called “the most vulnerable”.

The left-wing New Popular Front and the far-right National Rally (RN), which together have a majority and could oust the prime minister through a no-confidence vote if they collaborate, had campaigned strongly against the reform.

Barnier also signalled taking a rightward shift on some issues, as he said he would pursue tougher policies to curb immigration. “There still is a feeling that our borders are sieves and that migration flows aren’t being controlled,” he said, adding: “I don’t have much in common with the ideologies of the National Rally, but I respect it.”

Earlier, Macron’s political rivals alleged Marine Le Pen’s party was exerting outsize power over the president, who nominated Barnier with the tacit support of the far right after spending weeks looking for a candidate who would not immediately be toppled by a majority of lawmakers, Al Jazeera reported.

The RN gave tentative support to Barnier’s nomination by saying it would not immediately try to vote it down but asserted that it could withdraw support at any point if its concerns on immigration, security and pocketbook issues were not met. (ANI)

Categories
-Top News UK News

Beauty sector to be targeted over immigration

Labour has made border security one of its top priorities in government and has already taken steps to establish the Border Security Command promised in its manifesto…reports Asian Lite News

Car washes and parts of the beauty sector will be targeted by immigration officers as they step up enforcement action over the summer, the home secretary has announced.

Writing in the Sun on Sunday newspaper, Yvette Cooper said officials had been redeployed to staffing a “returns and enforcement programme” targeting businesses suspected of employing illegal workers.

Yvette Cooper said she was “shocked to discover” that 1,000 civil servants had been working on a plan to send migrants to Rwanda.

The Rwanda scheme, a flagship policy under the last Conservative government, was axed by Labour within days of Sir Keir Starmer winning the general election.

Ms Cooper wrote in the newspaper: “We have directed Immigration Enforcement to intensify their operations over the summer, with a focus on employers who are fuelling the trade of criminal gangs by exploiting and facilitating illegal working here in the UK – including in car washes and in the beauty sector.

“And we are drawing up new plans for fast-track decisions and returns for safe countries.

“Most people in this country want to see a properly controlled and managed asylum system, where Britain does its bit to help those fleeing conflict and persecution, but where those who have no right to be in the country are swiftly removed.”

Labour has made border security one of its top priorities in government and has already taken steps to establish the Border Security Command promised in its manifesto.

In her article, Ms Cooper acknowledged that tackling small boats would take time and require “hard graft not sticking plasters”.

The prime minister also used this week’s European Political Community summit to discuss migration with fellow European leaders, and signalled he would be open to considering offshore processing arrangements similar to that between Italy and Albania.

But he has been criticised by Conservatives for scrapping the Rwanda scheme on his first day in office, with opponents arguing it provided a necessary deterrent to those seeking to make the crossing.

According to Home Office figures, 228 people in five boats – including a group in a yacht – were brought to Dover on Saturday.

It brings this year’s total to 15,717 people.

The English Channel crossing has continued to prove fatal, with two deaths recorded last week and four deaths on 12 July.

ALSO READ-UK wage growth slows to 5.7 per cent

Categories
-Top News Politics UK News

Farage proposes ‘freeze’ on immigration

Eurosceptic Mr Farage was a member of the European Parliament for more than 20 years until the UK left the bloc in 2020 and also led the Brexit Party and UKIP before founding Reform…reports Asian Lite News

Nigel Farage has said the 2024 general election “should be the immigration election”, as he launched his party’s proposals in south Wales.

The Reform Party leader said he wanted to see a “freeze” on non-essential immigration, which he blamed for NHS waiting lists and the housing crisis, saying other parties “would rather not discuss it”.

Seeking to differentiate his plans from Labour and the Conservatives, he insisted the document he unveiled in the bar of a community centre in Gurnos, Merthyr Tydfil, was not a manifesto but a contract.

He said: “If I say to you ‘manifesto’ your immediate word association is ‘lie’.”

Eurosceptic Mr Farage was a member of the European Parliament for more than 20 years until the UK left the bloc in 2020 and also led the Brexit Party and UKIP before founding Reform.

“Guess who’s back,” he quipped as he took to the stage.

Immigration was the main focus of the event, with Mr Farage claiming “Britain is broken” and “in decline culturally”, and that stopping immigration would “help us at least try to catch up”.

Acknowledging that Reform was a “very, very new” political party, he said they were not aiming to form the government at this election but instead work towards a potential 2029 victory.

“Our ambition is to establish a bridgehead in Parliament, and to become a real opposition to a Labour government,” he said, adding the other parties were ineffective, with the Tories “split down the middle”.

Farage repeatedly said he wants to create a “big, genuine mass movement of people” and “we need a good, strong opposition that can mobilise people in very large numbers”.

Five core pledges in the Reform UK manifesto include a freeze on “non-essential” immigration and the deportation of people crossing the Channel in small boats.

The party also believes “cutting back office waste” and giving tax breaks to doctors and nurses could lead to “zero” NHS waiting lists, and suggests axing income tax on earnings under £20,000.

Reform also wants to scrap Net Zero targets – aimed at tackling the climate crisis by minimising planet-warming gas emissions by 2050 – and instead turn to fossil fuels, with a promise to “unlock” the UK’s remaining oil and gas reserves.

The pledges also include leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.

Reform’s planned tax cuts would cost nearly £90bn per year, and spending increases would cost about £50bn per year, the party says.

However, Carl Emmerson, deputy director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said “the package as a whole is problematic”.

He said: “Even with the extremely optimistic assumptions about how much economic growth would increase, the sums in this manifesto do not add up.”

On paying for personal tax cuts by reducing the interest paid on Bank of England reserves, the IFS said the amount raised would be “much less than half” the figure estimated by Reform and “as ever there is no simple free lunch”.

Tax Policy Associates’ Dan Neidle says Reform UK’s contract contains a total unfunded cost of at least £38bn.

ALSO READ-‘Security pact with US a bridge to NATO membership’

Categories
-Top News UK News

Sunak pledges immigration visa caps

Immigration is a highly contentious topic this election with 685,000 migrants entering the country last year, a figure that both main political parties have said is too high…reports Asian Lite News

The ruling Conservative party announced plans on Monday for new annual caps on work and family visas to cut immigration after the opposition laid out its plans for the key election issue.

The plan laid out by Sunak, who is predicted to lose to Labour’s Keir Starmer in the July election, would involve a new cap on the number of visas that would be set by parliament each year.

Immigration is a highly contentious topic this election with 685,000 migrants entering the country last year, a figure that both main political parties have said is too high.

While lower than the figure in 2022, the level of immigration last year was still around three times higher than in 2019, when the Tories won the last election with a promise to slash migrant numbers.

Over the weekend, Starmer set out Labour’s plans to cut regular migration by banning “bad bosses” who violate labour laws from bringing foreign workers to the country, and by requiring employers to prioritise training Britons first.

With a head-to-head debate due on Tuesday where Starmer and Sunak will face-off on key issues for the first time during their campaigns, the prime minister’s new policy seeks to set his party apart from Labour.

“We have taken bold action to cut the number of people coming to this country. The plan is working but migration levels are still too high, so we are going further,” Sunak said in a statement.

“The Conservatives are the only party that is willing (to) take the bold action needed to cut immigration figures,” he added.

The annual cap, which will progressively be lowered each year to cut migration numbers, will not affect foreign students and seasonal workers.

More than 300,000 work visas were given in the year ending March 2024, which is more than double the number granted in 2019, according to official statistics.

The Tory government has introduced new regulations this year to target regular immigration, including barring international students and social care workers from bringing dependents, and hiking the minimum salary for skilled worker visas.

While the tightened regulations led to a huge decline in the number of health and social care visa applications in May, according to interior ministry figures, care providers have warned that the sector is struggling to fill tens of thousands of vacancies.

Labour’s shadow home minister Yvette Cooper dismissed the proposed policy as a “meaningless announcement”.

The government has also targeted irregular migration through its flagship scheme to send failed asylum seekers to Rwanda, which Sunak has admitted will not be implemented before the election.

ALSO READ-Canada pledges more visas for Gazans

Categories
-Top News Europe

Tunisia Bolsters Measures Against Illegal Immigration to Italy

Situated about 130 km from the Tunisian coastline, the island of Lampedusa is often chosen as the first stop for migrants making illegal sea voyages to Italy…reports Asian Lite News

 Tunisia in 2023 intercepted more than 75,000 illegal migrants while they were attempting to enter Europe via the Mediterranean Sea route to Italy, media reported.

It is more than double the number in 2022, during which more than 35,000 undocumented immigrants were arrested while sailing to Italy off Tunisian coasts, said the report on Wednesday, citing Tunisia’s National Guard spokesman Houcemeddine Jbabli.

Over the past several months, Tunisian security has intensified the crackdown upon waves of illegal immigration destined for the Italian island of Lampedusa, extending relevant operations from the southeastern province of Sfax to other provinces, Xinhua news agency reported.

Situated about 130 km from the Tunisian coastline, the island of Lampedusa is often chosen as the first stop for migrants making illegal sea voyages to Italy.

ALSO READ-Aman Venice Offers Intimate Escape in Italy

Categories
-Top News Europe

Tougher French immigration bill passes, Macron’s majority wobbles

The French government had initially said this would be a carrot-and-stick legislation that would make it easier for migrants working in sectors that lack labour to get a residency permit, but would also make it easier to expel illegal migrants…reports Asian Lite News

French lawmakers gave their final approval to a contested bill that toughens rules for immigrants on Tuesday, giving President Emmanuel Macron a policy victory that nonetheless exposed cracks in his centrist majority.

The bill, a compromise reached between Macron’s party and the conservative opposition, illustrates the rightward shift in politics in much of Europe, as governments try to fend off the rise of the far-right by being tougher on immigration.

“Today, strict measures are necessary,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said after the vote in the lower house. “It’s not by holding your nose in central Paris that you can fix the problems of the French in the rest of the country.”

The minister expressed relief that the bill passed with the votes of his centrist coalition and the conservatives, without relying on the surprise endorsement of far-right lawmakers, whose support had caused embarrassment in the presidential camp.

The French government had initially said this would be a carrot-and-stick legislation that would make it easier for migrants working in sectors that lack labour to get a residency permit, but would also make it easier to expel illegal migrants.

In order to gain support from the right, however, the government agreed to water down the residency permits measures, while delaying migrants’ access to welfare benefits – including benefits for children and housing allowances – by several years.

The French have long prided themselves on having one of the most generous welfare systems in the world, granting payments even to foreign residents, helping them pay rent or care for their children with means-tested monthly contributions of up to a few hundred euros.

The far right and, more recently, conservatives, have argued these should be reserved for French people only. The deal agreed on Tuesday would delay access to housing benefits for unemployed non-EU migrants by five years.

The compromise also introduces migration quotas, makes it harder for immigrants’ children to become French, and says that dual nationals sentenced for serious crimes against the police could lose French citizenship.

The deal, hashed out by a special committee of seven senators and seven deputies and later approved by both houses, was initially good news for Macron, who had made the migration bill a key plank of his second mandate and could otherwise have had to shelve it.

Just six months before European Parliament elections in which immigration will be key, however, it could also boost Marine Le Pen who, sensing a political opportunity, called the rejigged bill “a great ideological victory” for her far-right party.

She surprised the government by announcing her party would vote for the bill, causing immense embarrassment to the left wing of Macron’s party, who find it unpalatable to vote in unison with the far right.

One of the most vocal representatives of Macron’s left wing in parliament, Sacha Houlie, voted against the bill, his entourage told Reuters. In the end, 20 members of Macron’s Renaissance party voted against the bill, 17 abstained and 131 voted for the bill.

Speculation about some ministers threatening to resign if the vote passed had swirled in French media ahead of the vote. But none had immediately materialised after the results were announced.

ALSO READ-UK MPs seek revised immigration bill

Categories
-Top News UK News

Sunak announces curbs to cut immigration 

As part of the new measures, the government would curb international students from bringing their families to UK unless they are pursuing postgraduate research degrees…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday announced a series of new steps to crack down on soaring immigration in the country.

Sunak described the new measures as the government’s ‘radical action’ to bring down the immigration rate, adding the steps would ensure that immigration benefits the UK.

As part of the new measures, the government would curb international students from bringing their families to UK unless they are pursuing postgraduate research degrees and hiking the minimum salary that skilled foreign workers will need to earn if they want a visa to work in the country.

Taking to X, PM Sunak said, “Immigration is too high. Today we’re taking radical action to bring it down. These steps will make sure that immigration always benefits the UK.”

He posted, “IMMIGRATION ACTION, BANNING overseas students from bringing their families to the UK, unless they are on postgraduate research degrees, STOPPING immigration undercutting British workers, SCRAPPING the 20% going rate salary discounts offered for shortage occupations.”

Net migration to Britain reached record levels last year, official figures showed, putting pressure on the UK government that has made the issue a political touchstone, CNN reported in May.

Britain saw a net migration of 606,000 people in 2022, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, with 1.2 million people arriving in the country and about half that number leaving.

CNN reported that despite pledges from successive Conservative governments to drastically reduce the numbers of people moving to the UK, particularly in the wake of Brexit – a rupture that was touted by its proponents as a necessary step for Britain to “take control” of its borders.

The vast majority of people arriving – 925,000 – were non-EU nationals, and around one in 12 of those were asylum seekers, included for the first time in the ONS’ annual release.

“The main drivers of the increase were people coming to the UK from non-EU countries for work, study and for humanitarian purposes,” Jay Lindop, Director of the Centre for International Migration at the ONS, said, according to CNN.

Last year, Indian nationals were issued the largest number of UK study, work and visitor visas, according to UK Immigration Statistics.

More than 258,000 Indian nationals received visit visas in the year ending June 2022 — a 630 per cent increase compared to the previous year (when travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic were still in place), read UK Immigration Statistics.

But experts warn it also risks causing further chaos in the already stretched health sector and damaging the UK’s long-term growth prospects.

Cleverly told MPs on Monday that “migration is far too high and needs to come down … enough is enough”.

He added: “Today I can announce that we will go even further than those provisions already in place, with a five-point plan to further curb immigration abuses that will deliver the biggest ever reduction in net migration. In total, this package, plus our reduction in student dependants, will mean about 300,000 fewer people will come in future years than have come to the UK last year.”

Along with raising the salary threshold and scrapping the “shortage occupation list”, Cleverly announced that social care workers would no longer be allowed to bring their dependants when they came to work in the UK.

He also said people living in the UK – including British citizens – would now be allowed to sponsor family members to move to the UK only if the person living in the UK earned £38,700, up from £18,600 currently.

Finally, the government is asking the Migration Advisory Committee to review the rules for those who have completed undergraduate degrees in the UK.

A spokesperson for Downing Street called the package “the biggest clampdown on legal migration ever”. They added: “We believe this is a package which will enable us to significantly reduce numbers whilst achieving economic growth.”

It forms one part of a two-part plan to reduce the numbers of people coming into Britain legally and illegally. This week Cleverly is likely to fly to Kigali to sign a new asylum treaty with Rwanda, with ministers ready to bring forward new legislation in an effort to finally kickstart the government’s Rwanda plan.

Sources say Downing Street originally intended to announce a more moderate package of restrictions on legal migration but buckled under heavy pressure from Tory backbenchers and Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister.

Downing Street denied, however, that the five-point plan was the same one Jenrick had reportedly lobbied the prime minister to adopt on multiple occasions in recent weeks.

Christopher Howarth, a former adviser to the Home Office under Priti Patel, said the Treasury had vetoed precisely such moves when Sunak was chancellor because of fears it would stymie economic growth.

“These changes are the ones we urged the government to focus on 18 months ago,” Howarth said. “But they were opposed by various government departments, and especially by the Treasury.”

Taken with previous changes made to student visas, the Home Office calculates this will lead to 300,000 fewer entrants into the UK.

ALSO READ-Sunak’s Diplomatic Misstep Deepens Concerns in Tory Circles

Categories
-Top News UK News

UK Faces Highest Public Dissatisfaction with Immigration Handling

This comes as the net migration to the UK reached a record high of 606,000 in 2022, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data revealed in May this year…reports Asian Lite News

Public dissatisfaction with the UK government’s handling of immigration is at its highest level since 2015 with two-thirds (66 per cent) saying they are unhappy, according to a research.

Just 12 per cent of those questioned in a survey across England, Scotland and Wales, say they are satisfied, the 2023 study by Immigration Attitudes Tracker from Ipsos and British Future said.

This comes as the net migration to the UK reached a record high of 606,000 in 2022, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data revealed in May this year.

The study showed that only a fifth (22 per cent) of Conservative supporters are satisfied with the government on immigration while most Conservatives — 56 per cent — are dissatisfied, and a quarter — 26 per cent — “very dissatisfied”.

As for Labour supporters, almost three quarters (73 per cent) are dissatisfied, and only eight per cent satisfied, with the way the issue is dealt with.

While the major reason given for dissatisfaction is the failure to stop Channel crossings, the responses are divided by politics.

“Liberals think it is inhumane, while hardliners think it isn’t achieving what has been promised. What they all have in common is the feeling that the government isn’t doing a good job,” Sunder Katwala, Director of British Future, said.

“Attitudes to immigration are nuanced but the sharp divide along party political lines means we should expect a noisier, more heated immigration debate as Britain heads towards a General Election,” Katwala added.

For Labour supporters, ‘creating a negative or fearful environment for migrants’ (46 per cent) and ‘not treating asylum-seekers well’ (45 per cent) are important reasons for dissatisfaction.

Among Conservative supporters, however, 82 per cent say, “not doing enough to stop Channel crossings” as a reason for their dissatisfaction, and only 9 per cent “creating a negative or fearful environment for migrants”.

The research finds that seven in 10 people (71 per cent) say they do not trust the Conservative Party to have the right policies towards migrants crossing the Channel, with just 21 per cent saying they trust Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s party.

The Labour opposition is trusted by 32 per cent of the public to have the right policies on Channel crossings, yet it is distrusted by 53 per cent.

Some 52 per cent of Conservative supporters say they do not trust their own party on Channel crossings, but 60 per cent of Labour supporters say they trust their own party to have the right policies on the issue, while 28 per cent do not.

With recent official figures showing that over 21,000 people reached British shores by crossing the English Channel illegally so far in 2023, Prime Minister Sunak was hauled up by the opposition Labour for having “failed to get a grip” on the issue.

But Sunak, who has made “stop the boats” a key priority of his government, branding the cross-Channel route “illegal”, insists that his efforts are “working”, and the government is making progress.

“…politicians won’t rebuild public trust by raising the volume of the debate — that will take workable solutions, particularly on asylum, that balance control and compassion,” Katwala said.

Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos, said that “with an election on the horizon and attention on the issue of immigration and asylum unlikely to go away, there isn’t much trust in either of the main parties to get the balance right”.

The study also highlights migration for study, as it forms a large proportion of net migration figures, with 37 per cent of the public happy for international student numbers, a 22 per cent prefering them to increase, and 31 per cent wanting reductions.

More than 100,000 migrants have arrived on small boats since the UK started publicly recording the arrivals in 2018.

ALSO READ-New Zealand immigration investigating employers for visa scheme breaches

Categories
-Top News Diaspora Europe

New Zealand immigration investigating employers for visa scheme breaches

Immigration Minister Andrew Little said that the country’s Public Service Commission will review the AEWV scheme’s processes following complaints…reports Asian Lite News

Following complaints of worker exploitation and breaches of the work visa scheme, the immigration authorities in New Zealand are probing more than 160 accredited employers, according to a media report.

As of August 9, five employers have had their accreditation suspended and six revoked for breaching employment standards, false declarations, liquidation and having migrants working for them without valid working rights or in breach of visa conditions, The New Zealand Herald reported.

A 27-year-old migrant worker from Punjab told The Herald on condition of anonymity that he was assaulted and left at the airport in the early hours of the morning this month after failing to pay “extortion” money to his employer.

A painter by profession, the worker paid a fee of about $20,000 for his initial visa and arrived in New Zealand last month where he stayed with his employer’s family and three other colleagues in a two-bedroom house in Auckland.

He was not paid any wages for the three weeks that he worked but was instead asked by his employer to pay another $20,000, and was also threatened with deportation.

“I begged them to have mercy, but they said if I had no more money to give then they will deport me and ban me from coming back to NZ,” the painter told The Herald.

Following this, the employer and two of his colleagues assaulted the painter in the early hours on August 9 and drove him to Auckland Airport.

According to radio service RNZ, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) general manager Richard Owen said they were aware of migrants being charged between NZ$14,000 to over $30,000 by agents, and some being dismissed before even starting work.

The painter is now being helped by a social worker and the Takanini Gurdwara Sahib Sikh temple with accommodation and food.

Dalijit Singh, president of The Supreme Sikh Society of NZ, said the Indian painter was one of about 10 exploited migrant workers that are being referred to the temple every week.

Apart from India, there are workers from countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and South America, according to an RNZ report.

“This is becoming a real problem since the start of this accredited employer programme,” Daljit told The Herald.

Steve Watson, Head of Immigration Compliance and Investigation, told The Herald that the agency has received a range of allegations and complaints, including worker exploitation, overstaying or people working or employing workers illegally.

However, he added that not all complaints are specific to the AEWV category.

“As of August 6, 2023, we are currently investigating 164 accredited employers. These investigations are in a variety of stages and we can’t comment on open investigations,” Watson said.

Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Andrew Little said that the country’s Public Service Commission will review the AEWV scheme’s processes following complaints.

Launched in 2022, the AEWV (Accredited Employer Work Visa) program, encourages businesses in the country to hire, train, and upskill workers.

Additionally, it offers qualified employees earning at least the New Zealand median hourly salary of NZD $29.66, a road to residency.

To obtain this visa, one needs employer accreditation, an employment check, and a visa application.

As per the report, more than 77,000 Accredited Employer Work Visas have been approved since the new visa opened in July 2022, and there are approximately 27,400 accredited employers.

ALSO READ-UK may relax work visa rules for Indians under FTA