Kulong or uwi? (or both) : wag sayangin ang pinaghirapan sa NZ, part 2

TULAD NG SINABI NAMIN NUNG huling blag, nakakahinayang mawala lahat ng pinaghirapang luha, pawis at dugo dahil lamang sa kahinaang laman. You borrowed a small fortune from family and friends to apply to get to New Zealand. You left a decent job, a promising career, and your kids left barkada, school and church groups, all to pursue the migrant dream of better jobs, safe communities and cleaner air for breathing. All worthy goals and solid dreams. Now, in a moment of madness,  collapse of conscience and surrender to sex , you cancel all the hard work, sacrifice and planning you and your family have done. No amount of justification, good character or other excuses will erase what happened. One crazy act of sexual assault and pfffft, it’s over. Sa presinto ka na lang magpaliwanag. Buti na lang, may awa ang sistema ng hustisya sa New Zealand. Hindi ka mabubulok sa kulungan. Imprisonment in prisons behind bars last only a fraction of what they are in the Philippines. BUT there is a big chance as we said in the previous post kabayan that, after your last day in prison, you will be sent home to the Philippines, which you ironically no longer call home. For some, this is the bigger punishment, the almost unthinkable banishment for you and your family. To your kabayan blogger, almost central therefore (but still not as important) to the question of why Pinoys get drawn to sex-related crimes in New Zealand is the secondary question: is deportation after imprisonment the fair punishment for our kabayan offenders? (We won’t extend or expand this topic any further.) We organized a small chatgroup for Pinoys  asking whoever had an opinion to share it among the rest of the group. No hard-and-fast rules, but for their privacy I’ve decided to shroud their identities. Up to you to decide Precious Reader how to take their opinion/s selected from the many given,  although we personally believe each opinion is valuable. (Some opinions edited for brevity.) All respondents are Pinoy. [ Just a spoiler though : If the crime meets the criteria (standard), NZ laws provide that deportation is available for the judge as an imposable punishment. ] YOUNG LAWYER :  Although New Zealand prides itself as advocating for human rights and humanitarian concerns, it has very wide grounds for deportation. It can deport someone who is convicted of a crime punishable by 3 months and this easily includes rape. But before one is issued of the deportation notice, they would have gone through the court trial, then got ‘convicted.’ The burden of proof (government’s job to prove the rapist is guilty) is really high: beyond reasonable doubt. once convicted, the notice is issued, although there is a right to appeal. One way to appeal is through the humanitarian ground which is a very high threshold or degree of proof ( 69% likely denied for non-residents, 59% for residents appeals denied). For me it all comes down to a balancing act: personal rights vs public interest. When one commits a rape  I ask whether this person’s right to residence outweighs the danger he or she poses to the public? How much will it cost taxpayers for this person to stay in NZ? Odds of reoffending? The appeal process provides opportunity for the individual’s circumstances to be heard. So that’s why it is also important for non-citizens, including resident visa holders to obtain advice of the immigration consequences of their criminal offending before entering a plea.   New Zealand has lots of obligations before international law but when it comes to deportation, this falls within State Sovereignty which means that New Zealand has almost absolute freedom on what and who it wants to be included or excluded in its political and economic life. I do not really know much about the data or decisions of the immigration regarding deportation but from the little I know, I trust the New Zealand’s deportation process at the moment. So, yes. I agree that anyone who is convicted of sex crimes and has lost the appeal should be deported. COMMUNITY LEADER :  I agree with the more general point that sexual crimes should be a basis for deportation – but for ALL non-citizens. Also, penalties for sexual crimes should be made more stringent. Parole, in my opinion, should be abolished. Don’t forget the case of Blessie Gotingco!