Migrant sex workers deported

Five migrants on temporary visas have been caught unlawfully working in the sex industry in Nelson and Marlborough.

Three have been sent home, and the other two are being dealt with by Immigration New Zealand (INZ) and the police.

Under the Prostitution Reform Act, foreign nationals on temporary visas (visitor, student, or work visas) are unable to work in the sex industry. They may not provide commercial sexual services or operate or invest in a New Zealand prostitution business while here.

INZ national manager compliance Dave Campbell said that since September, five individuals from China, Brazil and Hong Kong had been found working unlawfully as sex workers in Nelson and Blenheim.

Campbell said migrants who breached their visa conditions by working in the sex industry were vulnerable to exploitation by ‘‘unscrupulous employers and clients’’.

‘‘They are less likely to be aware of their rights and entitlements than their New Zealand colleagues, and are unlikely to come forward and complain.’’

He said not having a passport could be a sign of exploitation, as employers could hold passports to manipulate migrants they were exploiting.

In one case, it was thought that a Chinese woman had her passport stolen during her time in New Zealand. She appeared in the Nelson District Court in October.

The court heard that the woman was at a Nelson motel with a colleague when an INZ officer visited. The women tried to flee out a back door of the unit. One had a passport, and was deported. The other woman did not have a passport.

Prosecutor Jeremy Cameron asked for a 28-day warrant of commitment that would enable the woman to be held in custody until a new passport had been issued.

The woman had travelled to New Zealand lawfully between March and June last year, before returning to China. She returned last October on a visitor visa that was valid until January 31, and had been unlawfully in the country since then.

Cameron said the woman had come to INZ’s attention during investigations into the commercial sex worker industry. ‘‘This isn’t a one-off sole operator situation – it is a little bit bigger than that.’’

During an investigation last year, INZ visited 57 small owneroperated brothels across the country. None were visited in the top of the south. As part of that investigation, 66 migrant sex workers were identified. Of those, 36 were on visitor visas, two on student visas, and the remainder on resident visas.

All the sex workers but one were Chinese nationals. Immigration NZ found no evidence that they were being exploited.

Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said the Government was concerned about preventing all forms of migrant exploitation. In the case of the sex industry, it was concerned about people trafficking.

Migrants who are not permanent residents are not permitted to work in the industry.

In the year ended November 1, an estimated 207 actual or suspected sex workers were refused entry to New Zealand. Of those, 111 were from China, of whom eight were Hong Kong passport holders; 56 were from Brazil; and 24 were from Taiwan.

A Ministry of Justice report to the United Nations earlier this year found no evidence of ‘‘systemic’’ sexual exploitation in New Zealand. But the United States State Department’s 2019 Trafficking in Persons report, published in June, described New Zealand as a hotspot for sexual exploitation.

The US report said migrant women from Asia and South America and some international students were identified as being vulnerable to forced prostitution.