Rosario Biltoft Nielsen and his mother Kirsten Biltoft have less social value in NZ than serious offenders

Today we’re showing you an excellent example of the double standards New Zealand is renowned for.

For the last few months New Zealanders have been carping about the treatment of their criminals in Australia, many of whom are facing deportation for failing the ‘character test’ and languishing in deportation centers while their appeals are heard.

Recently the whining has reached jet engine intensity with Kiwi MPs flying the Tasman to highlight the ‘human rights’ abuses of Kiwis banged-up for having convictions for rape, child molestation, serious assault and armed robbery. The incessant nagging from New Zealand (this process of attrition is a common practice in the country) has gone on for weeks but still the crims are getting sent home where their human rights are protected but not their victims’ . When they return to New Zealand their lives of crime continue unabated and an under resourced corrections system is failing to monitor them..

Meanwhile, a honest hardworking immigrant family (without a criminal conviction between them) is facing deportation from New Zealand simpy because their son has Downs Syndrome.

“Rosario, who is a 16-year-old with Down Syndrome and autism, has delayed development and functions at the level of a two-year-old. Having been bought up in Denmark he has minimal understanding of English and is home schooled. He needs assistance dressing and will not be able to live independently in the future.

Rosario is eligible for funding under the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS), but the family has made no claims. The Biltofts believe their investment in New Zealand should more than compensate for the social cost of granting Rosario residence. “He hasn’t cost New Zealand a penny at all, we’ve supported him ourselves, totally,” Biltoft said.

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said: “The Minister’s priority is to ensure that all applicants understand their rights of review and appeal. The Minister is satisfied that is the case in this situation.”

An appeal was lodged with the Immigration and Protection Tribunal, but while it found there were exceptional humanitarian reasons for granting him a visa they denied the appeal because it would not be “unduly harsh” to send him to Denmark..”more here

But why isn’t the same rationale applied to New Zealand’s criminals facing deportation from Australia? Surely, if is not “unduly harsh” to repatriate them too?

Immigration NZ area manager Michael Carley said all non-citizens coming to New Zealand must have an acceptable standard of health so they did not impost undue costs on the public health system.

After careful consideration Rosario’s visa was denied because of his health…

The boy has an unacceptable standard of health In much the same way that the Kiwi crims have an unacceptable standard of character .So why is their deportation a ‘human rights issue’ for New Zealand yet the deportation of a child is not?

Which leaves one with the conclusion that criminals have more social value in New Zealand than children with disabilities.

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“Badlands, NZ: A Land Fit for Criminals” NZ is Soft on Crime first published 26 April 2011

David Fraser, a British expert with extensive experience of crime and punishment in the UK has just had published another book, this time about crime in New Zealand: Badlands, NZ: a land fit for criminals…

He recently turned his interest to New Zealand which claimed to have one of the highest prison incarceration rates in the developed world: 186 people per 100,000 of the population. However, research by the British government suggests that New Zealand has one of the lowest rates of imprisonment and may be being too soft on criminals. The country’s legal system is seen as being lenient on offenders because it is making more and more non-custodial sentences available to convicted criminals.

One source says “New Zealanders have been kept in the dark about the true nature of our crime problem, because politicians and academics have caused most of the soaring crime rate and would prefer the public didn’t find out.” Although the cost of keeping a criminal in prison is accurate at $100,000 a year it costs far more for society if offenders are released – the average criminal committing around 80 crimes at a cost of $355,000 a year to the community…

Fraser reckons successive NZ governments have also let their country down by introducing legislation that favours the offender: calling it “the scandal of the century” and that they should be ashamed of their actions

“The record of all governments in New Zealand since the 1950s in relation to crime prevention has been disastrous,” Fraser writes.

“The fact is that all governments since then have gone out of their way to introduce policies that have encouraged criminals to become more criminal.

“Almost every piece of criminal justice legislation passed during the period has made it easier for judges to avoid sending criminals to prison, by expanding the number of non-custodial alternatives available to them.

“In addition, other acts of parliament, as well as procedural and administrative changes, have put numerous obstacles in the way of finding, arresting and convicting offenders.” read on