A man from the tiny South Pacific island nation of Kiribati will be deported from New Zealand after the government refused to let him stay after his ‘climate’ refugee claim was rejected.
Ioane Teitoa appealed to Associate Immigration Minister Craig Foss to let him and his family remain but Foss decided not to intervene after he received a briefing from Immigration New Zealand. Instead it was decided the applicant was an economic migrant.
According to news site Stuff NZ, an advocacy group fighting on behalf of Teitoa said he would have no future back home. Reverend Sumalie Naisali and members of the Kiribati and Tuvalu communities presented a petition to Labour and Green Party MPs on Tuesday calling for Teitoa to remain in the country.
Prime Minister John Key has called Teitoa, 38, an “over-stayer” and said while Kiwis “feel for the guy” his case is not “unique”.
“If people were being forced out because of rising sea levels then I’d say it’s a valid case but it’s not like he can’t return, he’s an over-stayer.”
Mr Key said there were a number of over-stayers in New Zealand from Kiribati and Tuvalu.
Future New Zealand Governments may need to examine the case for climate change refugees from the Pacific, he said – but the time for that was not now.
“I am certainly not ruling out that a future Prime Minister and a future Government wouldn’t take that compassionate view, and I suspect actually that they would. But it would be on genuine grounds that they actually can’t live in their country.”
As Breitbart London has reported, Teitoa tried to persuade New Zealand’ Supreme Court that his homeland had become unsafe due to rising sea levels, but the court ruled he was not at risk from serious harm or persecution, adding that his nation was taking steps to protect its citizens.
Formerly known as the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati consists of 33 small Pacific islands dispersed over 1.4 million square miles of ocean. It is one the world’s lowest lying nations, leading activists to claim it will be swamped by rising sea levels if climate change doomsayers are proved right.
However, a study last year found that sea levels have not risen by as much as previously predicted. Oceanographer William P de Lange and marine geologist Bob Carter said there was little evidence to support claims, such as those by Al Gore, that the sea would rise by 20 feet by the end of the century.
Just last week European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker sought to make the same link between climate and refugees by saying the European Union expects to expand the definition of refugees and migration. He said in his State of the Union speech:
“One example of where we Europe is already leading is in our action on climate change.
“In Europe we all know that climate change is a major global challenge – and we have known for a while now.
“The planet we share – its atmosphere and stable climate – cannot cope with the use mankind is making of it.
“Some parts of the world have been living beyond their means, creating carbon debt and living on it. As we know from economics and crisis management, living beyond our means is not sustainable behaviour.
“Nature will foot us the bill soon enough. In some parts of the world, climate change is changing the sources of conflict – the control over a dam or a lake can be more strategic than an oil refinery.
“Climate change is even one the root causes of a new migration phenomenon. Climate refugees will become a new challenge – if we do not act swiftly.”
But the video below shows his ad-libbing on the subject going further.
He added: “We are tackling the root causes of the next migration wave… the climate change problems because tomorrow morning we’ll have climate refugees and we have to know that. We should not be surprised, astonished if the first climate refugees are coming to Europe.”
Teitoa and his family will be removed from New Zealand on Wednesday.
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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