A woman whose first husband left her for his cousin went on to marry again, only to spend the ensuing years fleeing the abuse of her new spouse and the “severe” penalty of being in a bigamous relationship.

In the height of her turmoil, the Philippines national and her son were travelling on fake passports when they were caught and sent home via New Zealand.

But the mother and son never left and now they are seeking refuge in New Zealand where they have managed to rebuild their lives over the past five years.

In a decision released by the Immigration and Protection Tribunal New Zealand late last year, it was detailed how the 49-year-old woman made a humanitarian appeal against her and her son’s liability for deportation. They are not named in the public document.

The tribunal previously declined the pair’s refugee and protected person appeal.

Issues to be determined in the recent appeal included whether there were exceptional humanitarian circumstances arising from the family violence experienced by the woman and her son at the hands of her second husband, her fear of returning to the Philippines, where he has been able to locate her in the past and where she may be imprisoned due to her bigamous relationship, and the degree to which they are well-settled in New Zealand.

As a young adult, the woman left the Philippines and relocated to a Middle Eastern country, which is not named in the decision, for work.

There, she met a man and the pair moved to the Philippines, where they married.

The woman became pregnant but before the baby was born, her husband returned to his country of origin where he was required to marry his cousin.

Their son was born in 1999 but has never met his father. The woman lost all contact with her husband while their child was still an infant.

In 2003, she travelled to Saudi Arabia to work so that she could support her son and other members of her family.

Around three years later, while still in Saudi Arabia, the woman met a Pakistani national who offered to marry her and take on the responsibility of raising her son - as long as she converted to Islam and her son “did not cause any problems”.

Despite the woman still being married to her first husband, she converted and married the man in an Islamic ceremony in 2008.

Soon after the wedding, the woman became pregnant and in 2009, their son was born.

The woman’s second husband was controlling and abusive, both physically and psychologically.

However, he eventually moved without them to another country, not named in the decision, where he obtained resident status and then citizenship.

In time, the woman bought a house in the Philippines for her oldest son, her mother and other family members to reside.

By 2013, she and her youngest son relocated to the Philippines to live with them and, there, she established a small shop and became the family’s sole income earner.

About five years later, she struck financial difficulty and had to transfer the ownership of her home to one of her siblings - which displeased her second husband who had since arrived in the Philippines.

He then arranged for the woman and their son to travel on false passports, through various countries, to the country where he gained citizenship. The tribunal found this was “attempted human trafficking at her husband’s hands”.

The man told the woman that the country’s authorities were not to know they were related or it would risk his citizenship.

Their case was heard by the Immigration and Protection Tribunal New Zealand.

While the woman and her son were in transit, they were intercepted, identified as using false passports and stopped from boarding the aircraft.

The mother and son were booked on a flight back to the Philippines, via New Zealand.

But when they disembarked in New Zealand they instead sought recognition as refugees.

After their refugee and protected person claim before Immigration New Zealand’s Refugee Status Unit was declined, their appeals were subsequently lodged with the tribunal.

The tribunal heard that if the woman returned to the Philippines, she risked the country’s “severe” penalty of being imprisoned for up to 12 years due to her bigamous relationship.

Her second husband had sent her threatening and abusive messages and she feared he would harm her if she was to return.

She also no longer had contact with any of her family in the Philippines and some of them objected to her adopted religion and were a threat to her, she claimed.

While accepting her claims as truthful, the tribunal declined the refugee and protected person appeal.

But in her recent humanitarian appeal, she readvanced her claims and got a different result.

The tribunal found there were exceptional humanitarian circumstances in her case, such that deportation would be unjust or unduly harsh.

It also found it would not be contrary to the public interest for the mother and son to remain in New Zealand and so they were subsequently granted resident visas.

The mother now works and her son is excelling in school, the decision stated.

“The Tribunal is satisfied that they have found a degree of sanctuary here that would not be available to them in the Philippines.”

Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff where she covered crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.