Another refugee comes to New Zealand, breaks our laws, and we pay the price
Another day, another refugee making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Abdul Ahmadi came to New Zealand as a refugee. He was given safety, opportunity, and a fresh start. Instead of building an honest life, this Afgan scumbag built an $800,000 stolen-car operation that ripped off hard-working New Zealanders and drove up insurance costs for everyone else.
This was not a moment of weakness or desperation. It was calculated, premeditated crime. For nine months, Ahmadi ran a network of chop shops through Christchurch and Wellington, trading in other people’s property for profit until police finally caught up with him.
The court called it serious and sophisticated offending. His starting sentence was five years, somehow it was cut down to just over three. Three years for stealing from the very country that gave him refuge. It is disgraceful.
Refugee status is not a reward for lawbreakers. It is a humanitarian lifeline built on trust. New Zealand opened its arms, and Ahmadi responded by thumbing his nose at our laws and exploiting the system that saved him.
This is not a victimless crime. It has hurt ordinary Kiwis. It has made every honest migrant look over their shoulder. It feels like our refugee programme has become a revolving door for opportunists who see New Zealand as an easy mark.
The Crown prosecutor was right to say it clearly: “There is no culture in the world where it is acceptable to chop up cars and sell them.” That simple truth should end the tired excuses and the political tiptoeing.
Once Ahmadi’s sentence is served, deportation must follow immediately. Refugee status is a privilege, not a permanent shield from consequences. If you betray the country that saved you, you lose the right to stay here and you can whāk off.
Keeping him here after release would insult every decent migrant who came to New Zealand to contribute, not to exploit. It would send a message that our laws are flexible for some and meaningless for others.
Our justice system bends over backwards for offenders like Ahmadi while victims are left with higher costs and no sense of closure. It is time this country stopped rewarding bad behaviour and started enforcing real accountability.
Ahmadi’s case should be a turning point. When a refugee abuses the very system that saved him, he does not deserve another chance. He deserves a one-way ticket back to the opium fields of Afghanistan.
Abdul Ahmadi is not us.
🔒Personal thoughts for paid subscribers 🔒
Jailing Abdul Ahmadi for more than three years might feel like justice to some, but it also costs New Zealanders a fortune.