Sri Lankan citizen unable to leave Cook Islands for three years — BBC News
Ruchira Ranasinghe, a 50-year-old Sri Lankan citizen, has been unable to leave the Cook Islands for three years because New Zealand and Australia have rejected her transit visa applications. The woman wants to return to Sri Lanka, including to attend the wedding of her only son in November.
Transit refusal
As BBC News reports, Ranasinghe arrived in New Zealand in December 2022 on a two-month visitor visa. According to her, after applying for asylum, she received an open work visa for asylum seekers and got a job at a restaurant. Ranasinghe says the restaurant agreed to sponsor her work visa application, but it was rejected because asylum seekers generally cannot apply for other visas while their applications are being considered.
The woman also says that an immigration adviser advised her to temporarily leave New Zealand and submit a new work visa application from abroad. She travelled to the Cook Islands but was again refused. Leaving New Zealand also meant violating the conditions of her visa related to the asylum application.
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Alternative routes
Ranasinghe unsuccessfully applied for a New Zealand transit visa three times and for an Australian one four times. Immigration New Zealand told the BBC that it rejected the applications because it was not satisfied that her genuine intention was only to transit through the country. The immigration minister's office added that an escort or the use of handcuffs would not eliminate the possibility of submitting another asylum application.
Other international routes from the Cook Islands run through Tahiti or Hawaii. However, for visa applications for these destinations to be considered, Ranasinghe must provide biometric data in person in New Zealand. On the islands, she was provided with free staff accommodation at a hotel, while local residents help with food and clothing. Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was taking the necessary steps to facilitate her return home.
