Alastair McClymont: immigration lawyer on Daman Kumar being granted New Zealand residency

A New Zealand-born teen threatened with deportation has mixed emotions, now that he's allowed to stay in the country. 

Daman Kumar faced deportation with his long-time overstayer parents to India, a country he'd never visited. 

Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk has granted the 18 year-old a resident visa - but has ordered Kumar's parents to leave immediately. 

Kumar's lawyer, Alastair McClymont, says they're unlikely to be forced out any time soon. 

"Usually, you know, Immigration New Zealand are pretty good at talking to people in this sort of situation and trying to negotiate a voluntary departure." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good news bad news for the eighteen year old Damon Kumar.
This is the Overstane, the Associate Immigration Minister. He's decided
to give him a residence visa so he can stay
in New Zealand. The bad news his parents still facing deportation.
The lawyer is Alistair mcclemont. He's with me Hi Alistair
Hi Ryan.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
How are you?

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good?

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Thanks? How's Damon feeling?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, as you've just said, very mixed emotions. I mean,
he's absolutely delighted that he can now get on for
his life, but now yes and his sister have to
face losing their parents. So yeah, it's very difficult for
him to really you know, understand how he really feels
about this.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
When are the parents going to be deported because it's
obviously been he's eighteen, they've been here the whole time.
Is this going to happen soon?

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Well? Look, usually you know, Immigration zeund are pretty good
in talking to people in this sort of situation and
trying to negotiate a voluntary departure, So that's really much
what's going to happen now? You know, we'll have to
talk with Immigration Zone see what's going to happen and
talk to the parents and see what they choose to do.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
They how do they feel. Do they feel guilty about
the situation that they've put him in?

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Well not really. I mean, as we spoke about a
little earlier, you know, one of the reasons why the
parents did come and did stay was because they do
face persistent discrimination in India because of that caste system
where they come from, that untouchable cast They wanted to
protect their children from this and New Zealand is a
country that doesn't have that sort of form of discrimination,

(01:34):
and so you know, in some ways they have been
successful in saving their children's lives and giving them the future.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Do you think it'll encourage others to do the same.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Well no, I mean the Minister of Immigration talks about
where you know, people come to New Zealand and have
babies to try and stand the country, but there are
simply no policies whatsoever that enable people to stay in
this country simply because they have a baby in this
country that.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Has a set of no But this shows that you
can save your baby.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah twenty five years later, Yeah, ma me sure. But
you know this gives nothing for the parents whatsoever. Having
a New Zealand citizen child gives no rights to the
parents to stay here. It never has and it certainly
doesn't currently.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
Alistair, thanks for your time, Alisair mcclemont, Damon Kumar's lawyers.
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