Eight Immigration officials raided the flat of Chen and his six housemates at about 6am on 28 June 2022. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A Chinese overstayer says his wrist was broken during a dawn raid by immigration officers in Auckland last year, and that Immigration officers created a cover-up story.
Forty-seven-year-old man Chen* said he and his six flatmates were asleep when eight officers raided their home about 6am.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) had conducted 20 out of hour compliance visits between July 2022 and May this year, despite the government's Dawn Raid apology in 2021.
Chinese nationals were the largest group affected by recent raids, making up about half of those raided during that period.
Documents seen by RNZ show Immigration compliance officers claiming the man injured himself when he leapt over a balcony and fell onto concrete - which Chen has disputed and complained to the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA), which is now assessing the case.
Chen's immigration adviser, Tuariki Delamere, believed unnecessary force was used when his client was pinned to the ground and handcuffed.
Delamere, also a former immigration minister, said it was concerning that INZ has continued with Dawn Raid-like visits in disregard of the government's apology and directives to stop the raids.
"I find it of concern, having been a former minister of immigration, and seeing that the government had instructed Immigration New Zealand you can't do this, they basically just turned around and gave the minister, gave the cabinet, gave the prime minister a middle finger," he said.
The raid
Chen recalled it was still dark in the middle of winter when they were disturbed by loud banging on their doors on 28 June last year.
"We noticed there were lots of people at the front and back doors, we found out later there were eight people, but at the time we didn't know, and it was noisy and messy, the people were banging on the doors and shouting loudly, we didn't know what to do."
Chen said he and his housemates were terrified, and initially thought it could be an attempted robbery.
"Everything they said was in English, none of us knows English, and we didn't understand what they were shouting, all we could hear was the banging on the doors," he said.
Chen said he thought his life was in danger so made an escape by climbing over a balcony railing on the second floor, and dropping to the ground, only to be met by several people who pushed and pinned him to the ground.
"They pulled my arms back, and they used their knees to push me to the ground, I was prostrate on the ground, and my glasses were damaged," he said.
Chen said he was handcuffed, and he had felt an intense pain in his left wrist - which he believes was injured during the arrest.
Later that morning he was told by officers through translation applications on the phone that they were from Immigration New Zealand and were there to deport him, and they took him to hospital where he was treated for a fractured wrist, Chen said.
Chen was allowed to remain in New Zealand for another month to allow his injury to heal, while four other housemates including his wife were deported.
Several months after the raid, Delamere filed complaints to the police, IPCA and the Ministry of Business, Immigration and Employment about the treatment of Chen during the raid.
However, INZ said they did not believe Chen's injury was a result of interaction with officers.
An INZ use of force report had officers describing Chen as "aggressive", stating that they needed to handcuff him to protect themselves and stop him from escaping.
INZ general manager of compliance Richard Owen said a review of existing policies and processes for out of hours compliance visits was expected to be finished by the end of June, and all such visits would be paused in the meantime.
Chen said he accepted that INZ had the right to deport him, but was angry at the aggressive way in which he was treated - including INZ's alleging his involvement in an organised fraud group - an accusation that came after Chen took his complaint to authorities.
"These immigration officers I've come across, not only have they refused to take responsibility for their mistakes, but they've added crimes to my name which I did not commit, I'm very disappointed," he said.
The allegations had tarnished his reputation and put him at risk of being arrested upon return to China, Chen said.
He made a refugee asylum claim as a result, but his application was declined by the INZ Refugee Status Unit in February this year. He is appealing the decision at the Immigration Protection Tribunal. INZ said it could not comment on whether it had made these allegations, or why, due to the matter being before the tribunal.
Chen said he still suffered pain in his wrist and was no longer able to work his trade of fixing roofs and clearing gutters, which he had been doing since he arrived in 2019 on a Visitor's Visa. He claimed he had paid around $30,000 to obtain that visa through an agent in China.
Chen said he was now reduced to doing whatever menial jobs he could find. He wanted compensation for his injuries and the humiliating experience.
He said he knew at least three other Chinese workers who were overstayers who were raided early morning about a month before his experience.
* Chen is not his real name
