You might drown, refugees told

Immigration New Zealand has issued a warning to anyone who might try to reach New Zealand illegally by boat: “There is every chance you will drown at sea”.

The department said it would not comment on specific reports that a boat carrying more than 100 illegal migrants might be attempting to travel to New Zealand but said such a mass arrival was a possibility NZ should be prepared for.

Police in Southern India are investigating the suspected attempt to illegally transport more than 100 Indian people, including women and children, by boat to New Zealand, media agencies have reported.

Kerala state police said officers were questioning people who were to have boarded the fishing boat which reportedly left Munambam Harbour, near Kochi in Kerala, on January 12.

Any attempt to reach New Zealand will put your life, and the lives of your family members, at great risk. Stephen Vaughan, Immigration

Police began investigating when they found dozens of abandoned bags containing “everything needed for a sea journey” at the harbour, said police spokesman MJ Sojan.

“The boat is gone, that’s for sure,” he told Associated Press.

The boat was carrying people from Delhi and Tamil Nadu, two officers involved in the case told Reuters.

They said a person from New Delhi arrested in connection with the investigation told police the boat was heading to New Zealand.

It is not clear where the crowded fishing boat is now.

Immigration NZ assistant general manager Stephen Vaughan said it did not comment on specific ventures but it was aware people-smugglers continued to express interest in targeting New Zealand.

“We remain vigilant . . . While reports of these types of ventures are concerning, the message to anyone contemplating such a journey is simple: Any attempt to reach New Zealand will put your life, and the lives of your family members, at great risk. There is every chance you will drown at sea.”

Although there had never been such a mass arrival in New Zealand, there was no doubt it was a target for people smugglers and it was a possibility that the country needed to be prepared for, he said.

In London, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had not been briefed on the report.