Peters speak up against Somali migrant

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters yesterday accused a Somali migrant of trying to manipulate the system to bring 14 relatives to New Zealand.

Asha Ali Abdille, who has been in New Zealand since 1994, is trying to bring her parents, siblings and her dead sister's five children here.

She has been frustrated by requirements that they have DNA tests after already travelling, at great expense to Ms Abdille, to major cities from different parts of Somalia and Ethiopia for medical tests and interviews for the Immigration Service.

Ms Abdille, on a sickness benefit for a bad back after falling from a ladder while picking fruit in Hastings, said the service had not explained why the interviews were insufficient or provided an alternative to DNA testing.

Mr Peters said the saga simply highlighted flaws in the system.

"Here is a sickness beneficiary refugee trying to manipulate the system to bring in 14 of her relatives to bludge off New Zealand taxpayers.

"Under this politically correct Government and its open-door immigration policies, one refugee never equals just one refugee - it almost always means 10 or 15 refugees, most of whom go on the welfare system."