Jailed Chinese kidnapper can stay

A Chinese student who was to be deported for his role in a kidnapping, assault and robbery in 2002 has been granted permission to stay in New Zealand.

Bo Fan, 24, was issued with a deportation order in August 2004 after being convicted over the incident, in which he and three friends beat a man, threw him into a car and drove him to an isolated beach.

They threatened him and took him to two ATMs where he was forced to withdraw and hand over $1000. In May 2003, Fan was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.

The abduction occurred during a spate of Chinese student kidnappings. At its peak, police dealt with at least one such incident in Auckland every week, which shocked the local Chinese community and led to questions in China over whether New Zealand was a safe haven for students.

Such doubts are thought to be a factor in the subsequent decline in the number of Chinese students.

In quashing Fan's deportation order, the Deportation Review Tribunal cited the stress it would have caused his mother, Jing Chen, and father, Zhi Jun Fan.

"We accept that he shares a close relationship with both parents and is emotionally reliant on them," the tribunal's report stated.

"We find that both his parents would suffer considerable emotional hardship if Fan were deported back to China, particularly in view of [Zhi Jun Fan's] ill health (including a heart problem) and the unlikelihood now as a New Zealand citizen that he [Zhi Jun Fan] would return to China to live."

The ruling has angered South African man Gavin Penfold, who faces removal after he changed jobs last year but did not tell the Labour Department until 10 months later.

"If you ask me, it's absolutely ridiculous to allow a man like [Fan] to stay in this country. If you let these kinds of people stay ... it makes you wonder."

Act leader Rodney Hide said the decision was "extraordinary".

"This case highlights the topsy-turvy nature of immigration policy, where they move to throw out of the country a hardworking, honest family - the Penfolds - and yet keep in a convicted criminal.

"Let's hope sanity prevails and we start running an immigration policy that has the best interests of New Zealand at heart and we seek the best immigrants for New Zealand. And convicted criminals don't fit that category."

Mr Penfold, his wife and their two children have lodged an appeal against their removal with Associate Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove.

They are expecting a decision on Friday or early next week.

In making its decision on Fan's fate, the tribunal weighed up the effects of the deportation on his family against his offending.

It found that Fan was relatively young at the time of the offence, had expressed genuine remorse, had led a positive life since his conviction and that remaining here would not be "contrary to the public interest".

He had taken steps to rehabilitate himself. It acknowledged the offence was serious, though it lasted less than one hour, and that Fan had two minor driving infringements to his name.

Fan, a Chinese citizen, is now training to be a chef. He converted to Christianity while in prison and regularly attends church. Efforts to contact him last night were unsuccessful.

The Immigration Service granted him a residence visa under the Family Dependent Child policy in 1987 and he arrived in New Zealand in 1997 on a residence permit.

Under the Immigration Act, the Immigration Minister may deport any holder of a residence permit who has been convicted of two offences committed within five years of being granted a permit, where each offence may result in one year in prison.

Immigration Minister David Cunliffe refused to comment on Fan's case, saying the order was issued before he took over the portfolio and he did not know the background.