- Born in New Zealand, the boy has been asked to go to India, a place he has never seen or known
Even ghosts manage to find a place of their own, one that they can comfortably use as their favourite joint, either to hangout or simply to haunt whenever things get a bit dull.
But what if you don’t exist at all, even though you’re alive with body and soul. Such is the hapless predicament of Auckland-born 18-year-old teenager Navjot Singh with not a shred of evidence to justify his presence as a living person.
His death, too, would be a bitter irony, because if a person is technically not alive how can he be dead either.
The New Zealand government has decided to deport 18-year-old Navjot Singh, born in Auckland without any sort of legal status, to India, a country he has never visited.
- Born and raised in New Zealand, Singh has no legal status because his parents overstayed their work visas
- Under a 2006 law that ended birthright citizenship, children born in New Zealand to parents without lawful immigration status, are not recognized as citizens
Singh never left the country and neither did he ever attend school because of his undocumented status,
His request for residency through ministerial intervention was denied last week by Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk.
The government’s decision contrasts with a similar case earlier this year, when another overstayer, 18-year-old Daman Kumar, was granted residency through ministerial discretion. Kumar, who had lived in New Zealand without a valid visa for nearly two decades, told RNZ in 2023 that others like him deserved the same opportunity.
Singh’s situation has drawn public concern. Unusual as the circumstances of his situation is, it cannot just be shoved aside and condemned to nothingness by a mere rubber stamp, which only perpetuates further his state of ‘non-existence’.
The problem is real and present and must be dealt with empathy and compassion. It would be a deliberate and wanton act of cruelty if the concerned authorities do not take necessary and immediate steps to rectify a grave error that relegates a man to a position of an ‘invisible entity’.
It becomes quite clear from the very outset that the Navjot Singh has become an unwitting victim of a chain of events not of his own making, but is the cumulative result of lapses on the part of his parents and, secondly, on account of changes made in New Zealand’s immigration laws.
‘I don’t think I’ll survive in India’
Singh was born in Auckland in 2007, a year after changes to the country’s citizenship law. As a result of the legislative reform, many children born to undocumented immigrants have grown up without access to basic rights such as education and healthcare.
“My father was deported when I was just five days old,” Singh said in a media interview. “I have no connection with my father. I haven’t talked to him in the past five years.”
Singh first learned about his situation when he was eight years old. “I asked my mum why I wasn’t at school, and then she had to tell me,” he said. “Ever since, I’ve been living in fear. I couldn’t even be honest with my friends.”
His parents first relocated to New Zealand in the early 2000s, eventually getting married. Singh’s father applied for refugee status, but his application was declined, and he was deported in 2007.
Singh’s mother lost her legal right to stay in 2012, leaving him stateless. The 18-year-old teenager now fears deportation to a country he has never known.
“I don’t think I’ll survive in India,” he said. “I don’t speak Hindi. I’ve heard that people with higher qualifications can’t find jobs there, so what would I do?”
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Pravasi Samwad. Pravasi Samwad is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented.
