By Samantha Semoso – EMTV Online
A Kiribati family in Auckland, New Zealand is facing deportation back to Kiribati despite claiming to be climate change refugees.
The family is now taking their case to court.
Ioane Teitiota, his wife Angua Erika, and their three children have been fighting against deportation back to Kiribati since 2011, arguing they should have been considered refugees based on climate change and rising sea levels.
About 70 people attended a public meeting in West Auckland last night in support of Ioane and his family. A Kiribati community leader in West Auckland is heading to Parliament today to plead with the government not to deport a man who says he is a legitimate climate change refugee.
Teitiota has been told he is booked on a flight out of New Zealand tomorrow while his wife and children, who do not have citizenship, had also been served with deportation orders and it would be “engaging with them to facilitate their departure by Immigration New Zealand”.
John Corcoran, a key witness in Teitiota’s legal proceedings, said the family’s outlook is grim, with families already struggling to survive on the island.
He added that with this being the case, Teitiota’s children would suffer compared to the living standards in New Zealand.
