Vaisua
COURT OR TRIBUNAL
New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal
DATE FILED (OR FIRST HEARING DATE)
20/06/2013
LITIGATION TYPE
Constitutional and Human Rights / State Accountability
SUBJECT MATTER
Human rights and refugee claims
REVIEW TYPE
Merits review
SUMMARY
(Excerpt from judgment)
[1] The appellants, a husband and wife aged 66 and 68, are citizens of Tuvalu. They are appealing against their liability for deportation which arose when they became unlawfully in New Zealand.
[2] The appellants claim that if they are returned to Tuvalu they will be separated from their three daughters (and their respective families) with whom they have particularly close bonds. They also claim they will be at risk of suffering the adverse impacts of climate change and will not be able to access the medical services and medication available to them in New Zealand. In particular, the husband remains paralysed down one side as the result of a stroke eight years ago.
[3] For the reasons that follow, the Tribunal is satisfied that, in combination, the appellants’ situation amounts to exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian nature. For the same reasons, the Tribunal finds that it would be unjust or unduly harsh to require the appellants to return to Tuvalu and that, in all the circumstances, it would not be contrary to the public interest to allow them to remain in New Zealand. They are each to be granted a resident visa.
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