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The 5-year-old boy Immigration New Zealand wants to send to China with his overstaying parents was reunited with his father yesterday after the department withdrew its application to detain him.
Overstayer Chuanjin Diao has been held in jail since his arrest on January 15, and head of Immigration New Zealand Andrew Annakin said the decision to release him was made on humanitarian grounds.
His immigration agent Tuariki Delamere said the withdrawal came as a surprise, as the department had only last week pressed for an extension to his detention.
Mr Delamere said: "Of course we are pleasantly surprised. The family has been reunited for the first time since his arrest, but they are under no illusion that their future here is secure."
Without a valid visa, Diao will continue to be an illegal overstayer, and it will be at the discretion of Immigration New Zealand whether to deport him and his de-facto partner, Xianglan Hao.
Mr Delamere had lodged a police complaint accusing immigration officials of unlawful entry, assault and fraud, alleging immigration officers forced their way into the family's home to take pictures of their son, a New Zealand citizen, for travel documents to send him to China with his parents.
A spokesman for Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman said the minister had nothing to do with Diao's release, but after a Herald report, cancelled a scheduled meeting with Mr Delamere.
Dr Coleman wrote: "It has become apparent that you are ... involved with the Diao case which featured in the New Zealand Herald today. It is not appropriate that I become involved in or comment on these issues. Given the broad nature of legal proceedings and the news interest surrounding the Diao case, I do not see how it is possible for us to quarantine these issues. I have decided it is inappropriate to meet you at this time."
