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New Zealand First leader Winston Peters should be first in the queue to apologise to Ahmed Zaoui, Green MP Keith Locke says.
However, Mr Zaoui should not hold his breath for Mr Peters to extend him an olive branch, as the defiant New Zealand First leader yesterday condemned the SIS for clearing the Algerian refugee of posing any security risk to this country.
"I find it very difficult to understanding how they [the SIS] could come to that conclusion, how someone could slide from being a risk to not being a risk. On what do they base that evidence?" Mr Peters said.
"I'm not resiling from anything I have said on the ease with which people have misused and abused the largesse and the goodwill of New Zealand taxpayers."
New Zealand First has consistently opposed any leniency being granted to Mr Zaoui, and frequently called for him to be expelled from the country.
"It is appalling that we have paid almost $3 million in the case of someone who jumped the queue [with] an unmeritorious claim," Mr Peters said.
Mr Locke said the attitude of Mr Peters and his party to Mr Zaoui had been unjustified, and had whipped up anti-immigrant sentiment.
"I think the first person who owes him an apology would be Winston Peters who, along with the others in New Zealand First, has been leading a smear campaign against Ahmed Zaoui with anti-Islamic overtones. I think he is the one that is responsible for whipping up the sentiment against refugees like Ahmed Zaoui, and he should apologise to the nation.
"I think that the Government should look at itself as well. They didn't need to drag this out for so long, the evidence wasn't really there."
National immigration spokesman Lockwood Smith echoed Mr Locke's concerns over the years it had taken for the Zaoui case to be resolved, and called it a fiasco.
"This man was afforded full access to the best the New Zealand legal system had to offer. Surely the starting point with any review of how this case proceeded is the time it has taken to get to this point," Dr Smith said.
Immigration Minister David Cunliffe said refugee status granted to Mr Zaoui in 2003 still applied, and he would be able to request his family join him.
"The Department of Labour will now ensure that Mr Zaoui's situation and immigration status is regularised as soon as possible, and will be working with his representatives to do that."
Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples said he expected Mr Zaoui to be given a full apology and be quickly reunited with his family.
"His quiet dignity and sense of presence has impressed many New Zealanders. It made the decision that the Government took in choosing to ignore the 2003 ruling of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority even more questionable."
- Additional reporting Paula Oliver
