Fijians have been lured to New Zealand with the promise of earning almost seven times their weekly wages in Fiji picking fruit. After their arrival, the false promises quickly unravelled. Some of the workers were sent to kiwifruit orchards in Tauranga where they were forced to work illegally for long hours, sleep on the floor of overcrowded basements and were paid little, if anything.
Faroz Ali, 46, was the mastermind behind an elaborate human trafficking scam that enticed and exploited Fijian workers in New Zealand and he was convicted on September 15 after a three-week trial in the High Court at Auckland.
Ali was found guilty of 15 people-trafficking charges and guilty of 15 charges for aiding and abetting a person to unlawfully enter New Zealand. He was also found guilty of one charge of aiding and abetting a person to remain unlawfully in New Zealand.
The 15 Fijian workers who fell victim to the scam were lured to New Zealand by the promise of $900 per week for picking fruit.
They sold their family cows and borrowed thousands of dollars from their villages for the chance to work in high-paying jobs in New Zealand and give their families a better life.
They returned home empty-pocketed and ashamed.
This result marks the first successful trafficking prosecution in New Zealand history.
New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers chief executive Nikki Johnson said the organisation condemned illegal and unscrupulous actions.
"The overwhelming majority of our industry complies with labour regulations and we have an ongoing work programme with government agencies to educate growers and contractors about their legal responsibilities to their workers," she said.
The organisation was working with other agencies to establish an identity card for workers in viticulture and horticulture.