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A convicted passport fraudster sentenced to five years in prison for running a sophisticated forgery operation has been allowed to remain in New Zealand because of his wife's suicidal impulses.
A Deportation Review Tribunal has ruled New Zealand's "international obligations" - which include "respect for the integrity of the family unit, and the best interests of the child" - outweigh the public interest in having Kuwaiti man Fahad Jaber Ajeil Ajeil thrown out of the country.
"Public interest" factors included maintaining the integrity of the immigration system, and the cost to the tax system of keeping Ajeil and his family.
But the decision has infuriated Sensible Sentencing Trust head Garth McVicar, who says the board's reasons "sound like more of those liberal wishy washy excuses that's got the country in such as pickle".
Ajeil - who arrived in New Zealand in November 2002 via Iraq and Jordan - is understood to have used his wife's application for refugee status to bolster his own residency bid, which was approved before he arrived.
But within months of his arrival, the 33-year-old was involved in a fake passport operation involving the forging of travel documents for more than 17 countries.
He was sentenced to five years in prison in December 2004 on 14 fraud and forgery charges, and was released on home detention in May 2005, having served 14 months including time on remand.
An order for his deportation was issued in September 2005.
However, a Deportation Review Tribunal decision - reserved from a hearing in Auckland last month - decided there was no country to which Ajeil could be sent, he had no native land, and no country was likely to accept him.
Despite having been born there, Ajeil was thrown out of Kuwait for drunkenness in 1992.
Psychiatric reports compiled at the time of his arrest ruled Ajeil, while fit to plead, suffered from either "a schizophrenia-like psychotic disorder" or "depression with a high level of anxiety". Either way, deportation would likely "push him over the edge completely".
However, it was noted Ajeil "had the potential to be a useful and caring member of society", and was unlikely to reoffend.
He is on the unemployment benefit and working part-time as a car painter.
But Mr McVicar reckons such immigrants should not be tolerated, and the taxpayer should not be expected to foot the bill to keep them.
"Their feet should not touch the ground. They should be on the way back home," he said from Hawkes Bay yesterday.
The tribunal also cited Ajeil's wife's parlous mental health as a reason for allowing him to remain.The woman, a Kuwaiti, had attempted suicide, and had a depressive disorder, said a report.
