Migrant exploitation regime ‘underwhelming’

The Government has announced its final set of planned changes to combat migrant worker exploitation, but opposition parties say the plan ignores the best tool for combatting migrant exploitation: allowing migrants to change employers.

Associate Minister for Workplace Relations Priyanca

Radhakrishnan said the new Worker Protection (Migrant and Other Employees) Bill would introduce tougher penalties for migrant exploitation and provide more legal options for authorities to take action against it at an early stage.

‘‘What we’re trying to do is to ensure that we have a broad suite of measures to address this. It’s not the panacea, there will be other work and we will look at that as and when it’s required.’’

But Green Party spokesperson for Immigration Ricardo

Mene´ndez March said the changes were ‘‘underwhelming’’ and likened them to putting a cluster of ambulances at the bottom of a cliff.

‘‘It is not good enough to put in measures once exploitation happens, what we should be focusing on is preventing exploitation from happening in the first place.’’

March said the Government had not made changes to the biggest issue that could address migrant exploitation: the ability for a migrant to leave their current employer for another.

‘‘It is underwhelming that we’re sitting under all this research – and the lived experience of migrants who have come to our select committee to share their experiences – and yet we continue to deliver policy that won’t go far enough to protect migrant workers from exploitation.’’

A Kantar poll of 964 temporary migrants was released alongside the changes and revealed one in five migrants believed they would be deported if they lost their job.

Three-quarters of migrants

believed it was essential for them to stay in their job to access residency. ‘‘We need to address the policies that lead migrants to being exploited in the first place, such as employer-bound visas which create a massive power imbalance where the employer has huge control over a migrant’s life,’’ March said.

Radhakrishnan defended immigration policies that stopped migrants switching employers, but said the issue of allowing migrant workers to change jobs was one for

Minister of Immigration Michael Wood to address. ‘‘[We] want to make sure that, when people come into New Zealand to fill a certain gap, that that is the gap that they’re filling as well.’’

ACT’S Immigration spokesperson James Mcdowall said the Government had arguably contributed to future migrant exploitation by putting in place a new employer-led Accredited Employer Work Visa. ‘‘By tying even more migrant employees to employers, and by making the visa difficult to obtain for new migrants, the Accredited Employer Work Visa can easily make migrant exploitation worse.’’

Radhakrishnan said the Government’s changes also included a tougher penalty regime around migrant exploitation and new penalties for lower-level offences.

‘‘Introducing infringement offences will ensure that even lower-level offending such as refusing to provide employment documentation, are dealt with before it becomes more serious.’’

‘‘... we continue to deliver policy that won’t go far enough to protect migrant workers from exploitation.’’ Ricardo Mene´ndez March Greens spokesperson