Budget 2026: Support for increased resources to combat migrant exploitation

2:58 pm today

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford says the creation of a new labour inspectorate is expected to increase enforcement capacity by around 30 percent.

Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii

The Indian community has largely rallied behind news that $18 million will be set aside over the next four years to counter migrant exploitation and immigration non-compliance under this year's Budget.

The investment would fund three new frontline teams to respond to serious offending, protect people from harm and exploitation, and increase the number of cases investigated, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said.

The new funding would result in an additional 22 full-time employees, expanding capacity to detect and respond to migrant exploitation and serious breaches of employment standards, Stanford said.

The creation of a new labour inspectorate was expected to increase enforcement capacity by around 30 percent, she said.

"The funding responds to sustained growth in demand for labour inspectorate and immigration compliance activity since the border fully reopened in July 2022," she said.

"Frontline staff are making prioritisation decisions every day to identify and respond to serious offending and protect vulnerable people.

"Delays in responding to migrant exploitation, bad behaviour by employers, finding people who are subject to deportation liability or identifying people who are in breach of visa conditions have real consequences.

"They can prolong harm to victims, weaken deterrence, allow offending to continue, reduce the effectiveness of prosecutions, and undermine public trust and confidence in the immigration system."

The minister said New Zealand's ability to enforce immigration and labour standards and hold people to account for migrant exploitation in a timely and effective way would remain significantly constrained without the additional resources.

In November, a new offence was created for knowingly seeking or receiving premiums for employment with penalties of up to seven years' imprisonment or a $100,000 fine.

Parliament is also considering a Immigration (Enhanced Risk Management) Amendment Bill that includes changes to offences and penalties related to migrant exploitation.

The bill aims to strengthen the tools available to respond to serious immigration breaches even further and increases the maximum penalty for migrant exploitation from seven to 10 years' imprisonment.

Stanford found unexpected support for the new funding from across the aisle after the opposition party's immigration spokesperson hailed the announcement.

"Labour welcomes the increased resources for combating migrant worker exploitation," said Phil Twyford of the Labour Party.

"Increased staffing for compliance in this area was a condition of Labour's support for the India free trade agreement," he said.

"There is much more to be done to tackle the exploitation of migrant workers but this is a useful step."

Tayo Agunlejika, chair of Wellington-based charitable trust Ethnic Research Aotearoa, agreed.

"More focus on supporting government's response to migrant workers exploitation is great," Agunlejika said.

"We hope the government also puts in money in mental and maternal health as well as family harm prevention - issues of importance to ethnic communities but are often neglected."

Jagjeet Sindhu, president of New Zealand Forum for Immigration Professionals, said the additional resources would "definitely help battle migrant exploitation".

Arunjeev Singh, a South Auckland-based immigration lawyer, was sceptical the investment would make a difference.

"Increasing the investment to check migrant exploitation is just a cosmetic cover-up and not addressing the root cause," Singh said.

"The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) is full of flaws, which are easy to be abuse or manipulate.

"The power to bring overseas workers under AEWV is still with the employers.

Singh said it was getting increasingly difficult for exploited migrant workers to obtain the Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa, calling for a thorough review of the AEWV scheme.

The funding announcement came a week before before New Zealand found itself facing a new 12.5 percent tariff from the United States after the Trump administration cracked down on 60 countries it believed weren't doing enough to prevent the importation of goods made by forced labour.