expendable

you'll remember that i posted a little while back about a department of labour report on caring for the elderly. the authors of this report identified a looming shortage in the caregiver workforce as a result of our aging population, and their main recommendation was to import women from melanesia and "non-traditional" parts of asia.

and how do you think these women are going to be treated once they get here? as if they're expendable:

A Fijian caregiver has been refused a work permit and must leave New Zealand in one week despite a plea from her employer to allow her to stay because she is impossible to replace.

Sunita Khan, her husband Hamin and children Shahil, 17, and Pretisha, 15, must be out of New Zealand by September 21, but have vowed to fight Immigration New Zealand.

Her permit allowed both parents to work in New Zealand and to enrol their children at Wellington's Onslow College, which is also supporting their bid to stay in the country.

But late last month she had her application to extend the permit turned down because Immigration says there are plenty of Kiwis who could do her job....

"I give my heart to my job," Mrs Khan said. "It's not fair. I'm very sad."

this makes me so angry, i'm having trouble saying anything coherent. i could understand a denial of work visa if she had been made redundant and was unable to find work. but to kick here out, when she and her family are well-settled and when she is contributing to our economy and a valued worker, simply because of a downturn in the economy is unconscionable.