The pain of the policy that splits disabled kids from their parents

“My name is Prince. My only child is Jap Sahib. Jap Sahib is 15. He loves to play football. He has Down Syndrome. He has a great memory and he's doing well at school. I would do anything for my son.”

Mother Prince and son Jap Sahib have had to endure the pain of living apart for years because Aotearoa still upholds discriminatory immigration requirements that split families across borders. The Acceptable Standard of Health (ASH) requirements cast migrants with health conditions and disabilities as cost burdens, to health, disability and education services.

When migrants are discriminated against because of this policy, they may be forced to remain in - or return to - situations of violence and abuse. Even when families haven't been split due to this visa rule, enduring the mental, physical and financial strains of this policy is a lot to bear.

None of this injustice is inevitable or necessary. If she saw fit to, the Minister of Immigration could ask Cabinet to end this policy any time. Until that happens, migrants and families are forced to advocate for justice one by one, exposing a pattern of cruel systemic harm in the process.

For Prince, it’s a petition to grant residency for her son. 

Prince’s story continues, in her own words, below. 

"I have been living separated from Jap Sahib for seven years now. I am working as a chef in Christchurch. Jap Sahib is back in India, with his grandmother. It pains me that I have missed out on seeing him grow up for the past seven years. 

After I first came to NZ in 2014, Jap Sahib was turned down for multiple visas because of the discriminatory health requirements. In 2016, Immigration said that either I or my husband at the time had to go back to our country and take care of Jap Sahib there. I was just a new immigrant on a work visa myself. It was all very stressful.

At that time, I spent so much money on assessments, lawyers and specialists. Sometimes the assessments and advice was good but immigration wouldn't listen. Other times, I got ripped off. I felt isolated. As a single mum, I still struggle financially to keep fighting this policy.

It was in NZ where I learned about Down Syndrome, I know this condition is something natural. But forcing my family to live separated because of the discrimination is not natural.

I have been living away from my country for ten years. I live with depression now. I have many sleepless nights thinking about my son. Jap Sahib says he feels sad that he can't be with his mum, especially seeing all the other children with their mothers. During Covid I couldn't go back to India so I couldn't see him at all for three years because Immigration wouldn't even give us another visitor visa for him. Now when I am back in India to visit, he's terrified of me leaving again. My mom who is getting older looks after Jap Sahib.

I have a good job and I want to stay here. I shouldn't have to move back to India and start from zero after all these years. My sister's family is here in Christchurch too. Jap Sahib deserves to live here in NZ with me.

I'm like a ball thrown this way and that, a pendulum stuck between the two countries. Some NZ schools I've approached say I need a visa to enrol my son and Immigration says I need school enrolment for the visa. These circumstances make me insecure. I struggle every day. I can't see my past or my future. 

I want to live with my son in NZ, that's it. I would do anything for my son." 

If you’d like to support the campaign to end this discrimination and abolish the Acceptable Standard of Health criteria, you can find out more here.

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