Seven Immigration NZ staff fired for serious misconduct

Seven Immigration New Zealand staff have been sacked for serious misconduct this year.

Immigration New Zealand spokesman Nigel Bickle told NZPA the cases included one worker in New Delhi and six in New Zealand.

"The majority of the cases involved conflict of interest issues, and involved the non-disclosure of interests in family or friends' immigration applications."

While any misconduct in the agency was not acceptable, Mr Bickle said the recent dismissals needed to be looked at in context.

"It needs to be seen in the context of a 1200-strong workforce in 30 locations across the globe," he said.

"We take all allegations that we receive seriously. We've had 63 in the last year, most allegations are unsubstantiated, but where they are we are clearly going to take decisive and appropriate action."

In the past two years, a number of external inquiries had been held following allegations of integrity in the agency.

"We've done a lot of work over that time in terms of setting very clear standards of conduct and behaviour for our staff," Mr Bickle said.

"I'm confident that the vast majority of my staff understand the standards that are expected. They do a good job on a daily basis and are pretty committed and professional."

 

 

 

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