Man who lied to get residency allowed to stay

A Sri Lankan man who lied to get New Zealand residency has been allowed to continue living and working here.

Raseen Mohamed Thahir Mohamed's residence permit was revoked three years ago to a background of drug allegations and domestic violence.

It also emerged he had lived illegally in Japan for nine years before being deported, but had failed to admit that to the Immigration Department.

But the Deportation Review Tribunal has overturned the decision on appeal and allowed Mr Mohamed to stay.

Mr Mohamed, also known as Tony Mohamed, owns several businesses in Hamilton including a car importing firm, an investment and finance firm, and a food distribution operation.

Contacted by the Herald yesterday, Mr Mohamed's lawyer, David Allan, said neither he nor his client would comment, although the tribunal's decision had obviously been greeted with relief.

In 2003, Mr Mohamed's residence order was rejected by the then immigration minister Lianne Dalziel because of a false declaration he made in 2000.

And according to an Interpol report from Tokyo written by police sergeant Miyuki Shina, Mr Mohamed was caught in possession of 10,000 MDMA (Ecstasy) tablets while living in Japan. He was arrested but was never convicted of the charges.

Although the tribunal said it could take the drug allegations into account, it chose to accord "little weight" to them because of "the hearsay nature of the evidence; Mr Mohamed's continued denial of the allegations; the fact the Japanese Interpol sergeant was unavailable for cross-examination; and the fact that a letter requesting information from Interpol was missing".

Mr Mohamed's Japanese wife, Urara Atake, had also applied for New Zealand residency while concealing "relevant information" and was also ordered to leave the country by the minister in 2003. But after the tribunal's recent decision she too has been allowed to stay living in Hamilton as a New Zealand resident.

The couple have three New Zealand-born children under the age of eight.

The tribunal said it had to give weight to New Zealand's international obligations, which included giving "primary consideration to the best interests of any children under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989".

It appears Mr Mohamed and Ms Atake's marriage has been turbulent since their move to New Zealand.

Ms Atake told officials "my life is in your hands" after blowing the whistle on her husband at a New Zealand immigration office.

During the hearing she gave evidence that her husband had made verbal threats against her, which sometimes spilled over to physical violence.

Mr Mohamed had punched and choked her, but since a complaint to the police this had stopped.

On two occasions she had left the marriage for short periods and had lived at a women's refuge for a short time.

An application for a protection order had been made in 2003 but it was withdrawn when the couple reconciled. A further application was made in 2003, but it was unclear whether it was served.

Mr Mohamed was charged with assault in 2004 but Ms Atake withdrew her complaint.

Family interests were cited by the tribunal in its decision to allow both parties to stay, with Ms Atake stating she still wanted to retain the family unit as she regarded that as the only "safe" way to raise children.

The tribunal decided that "because of their marriage and their wishing to remain as the family unit, and doubt surrounding where the children would end up living, we find that if we were to revoke Mr Mohamed's residence, undue harshness would arise in relation to the children's interests and his relationship with them".

A number of positive factors worked in Mr Mohamed's favour, including his excellent work record, the fact the children were of mixed blood and the difficulties they might face in Japan, and the time he had already been in New Zealand.