Venkat Raman
Auckland, October 13, 2023
After reading our report about the exploited workers by unscrupulous employers in Manukau, New Zealand, a prominent lawyer has offered his services free of cost to affected migrants.
Dev Ananth is a Special Counsel at Stace Hammond Lawyers based in Auckland.
He is also a member of the Indian Newslink Legal Panel and President of the New Zealand Malaysian Business Association based in Auckland.
He said that the exploitation of migrant workers by unscrupulous employers and agents has gone too far to be tolerated.
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“Enough is enough. My team and I are here to help and provide pro bono advice. If we are convinced that the sufferings are genuine and that migrant workers have been exploited or cheated, we will offer them our counsel free of cost,” he said.
Mr Ananth said that he was distressed to read the plight of the migrant workers staying in a crowded accommodation in the South Auckland suburb of Papakura and said, “This exploitation has to stop.”
“I am sick and tired of hearing exploitation of immigrants from India and other countries being abused by their own people. I hear this on a daily basis. I really don’t know what kind of society I am now living in compared to 40 years ago. It is so very different,” he said.
Mr Ananth said the exploited and/or stranded migrant workers can contact him at any time.
“Do not worry about any charges – there will be none. I will go all out to defend any injustice done to any immigrant by anyone including those in the departments of the New Zealand government. I will appeal to the Ombudsman and the Human Rights Commission and get them involved. I just want a fair society, non-racist, just as how I grew up here in the early 1980s. This rot has to stop,” he said.
Dev Ananth can be reached by email: davea@shlaw.co.nz
Coming soon: Exploited workers demand salary in cash to protect handouts
