A Chinese mother who was given a forced abortion after falling pregnant with her third child has been granted refugee status in New Zealand.
It was granted after the mother, her husband, her 19-year-old daughter and the couple's eight-year-old son, appealed to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal late last year after their refugee protection was refused.
According to the Tribunal's decision, released today, the mother became pregnant with the couple's son, her husband's first child and her second, while still in Jilin Province in 2010.
They applied for a birth permit, required under Chinese law, several months before he was born.
Several months later, they claim they were visited by local government officials demanding they write and sign a pledge not to have more children.
After their son's birth, officials continued to visit the couple's home, demanding they write and sign a pledge, which they refused.
The officials continued to threaten and insult the couple for their refusal up until 2016.
The husband also claimed his employer had pressured the couple not to have more children, and told him he had to sign the pledge or resign.
When he refused, he was removed from his normal duties and detained in a room at the company each day after he arrived at work.
He was also lectured twice a day during this time.
This continued for approximately two years, during which the husband’s income was reduced to the minimum wage and he resigned.
In December 2015, the mother discovered she was pregnant for a third time.
Local government officials again visited the home and abused her, calling her a pig for wanting more children and pushing her.
They told her she needed to have an abortion and told her to sign a document agreeing to this. After she fainted, they left.
Later that evening or the following day, the wife started bleeding heavily, and the couple went to the hospital.
While there, they admitted this was her third pregnancy, after which they received a cold reception from medical personnel, and did not receive a scan or other tests to check for a heartbeat.
The wife was taken away into a theatre for an operation, which she was told was an operation to remove the remainder of the foetus after the miscarriage.
Neither she, nor her husband, signed any consent forms in relation to the operation.
The couple have since experienced difficulty conceiving.
The family moved to New Zealand in 2018.
On January 18 of last year, the family lodged a claim for refugee and protection status with the Refugee Status Unit (RSU), which was rejected.
In its new report, the Tribunal found the family's accounts to be "credible" and that the couple had a "well-founded fear of being persecuted."
The children have not been recognised as refugees or protected persons, however.
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