Gill
Bonnett, Immigration Reporter
Warning:
this story contains details that may disturb some
readers.
Moeaia Tuai will be sentenced next
month for enslaving a young woman who he forced to work and
sexually abused. Two victims broke free from the Auckland
man’s control in harrowing echoes of New Zealand’s most
infamous slavery trial, but such prosecutions remain rare.
Gill Bonnett reports.
Slavemaster Moeaia Tuai is a
Samoan chief or matai, who took possession of his victims’
lives and raped one victim, who had been forced to pay him
her wages for four years.
At the
63-year-old’s trial, his own diaries were used to
document the hours the young woman worked, her pay and when
she was punished with beatings.
“Treating a person as
if they were owned” was the legal description given to the
jury.
“Restricting freedom of movement – where a
person can go, restricting freedom of association – who they
can spend time with, restricting freedom of communication –
who they can contact and talk to – using actual or
threatened violence for breach of rules, retaining income
and denying access to money, threatening consequences such
as deportation to ensure compliance, restricting access to
education to maintain control.”
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Only one of those
elements was needed, but the prosecution said Tuai had done
the lot.
He put them to work, restricted their
movements and communication, and controlled their money,
paying them very little for their work. He kept their
passports, bank cards and wages, assaulted them and
threatened both with deportation if they spoke
out.
The young male victim dreamt of finishing school,
before he was put to work for 50 to 60 hours a week. He was
paid $100-150, $2 or $3 an hour.
He escaped after four
years in 2020, including time in Australia. When the woman
raised the alarm four years later that Tuai had raped her,
police also discovered the slavery both had suffered at
Tuai’s hands.
Within that time the two young victims –
who cannot be identified – were starting out in life, but
having to hand over their incomes to Tuai – estimated to be
$78,000 or more for one victim alone.
He denied all
the charges, but the jury was unanimous in finding him
guilty of 19 charges: two of slavery as well as a slew of
sexual offending against the female
victim.
Ownership, possession, control,
threats
Tuai did not allow the victims to talk to
each other, even when they were eating at the same table. He
did not allow them to talk to other people. He threatened to
kill the female victim if she told anyone he’d sexually
assaulted her, and both of them with deportation.
The
jury heard the call Tuai made to Internal Affairs the day
after she ran away – and his disappointment as he realised
he could not carry out his threat.
The Aucklander was
a matai, or Samoan chief. So too was Joseph Matamata, who in
2020 became the first New Zealander convicted
of both slavery and human trafficking.
Thirteen of
Matamata’s victims in Hastings – one just 12 years old –
were held behind a tall wire fence and put to
work.
Tuai also guarded his second victim after the
first ran away – driving her to and from work at a
laundrette and factory, and even refusing permission for her
to attend a daytime work function.
He coerced her to
make a false allegation of rape against another man who she
had started to see, said the Crown.
But she took her
chance to escape, contacting a relative, laying a false
trail of where she had gone and then contacting
police.
Rare conviction, less rare
occurrence
Investigation and prosecution numbers are
hard to track down, but Tuai’s slave dealing convictions are
believed to be the fifth in New Zealand history.
In a
1991 case, a Thai man sold a woman to an undercover police
officer as a slave for $3000. She had been working in a
massage parlour and a go-go bar, and the evidence suggested
he had brought a succession of girls and young women from
Thailand to live off their earnings.
More recently,
Fijian woman Kasmeer Lata forced
her underage daughter into prostitution in Auckland –
the first time on her 15th birthday.
She was sentenced
to more than 10 years’ imprisonment for dealing in slaves
and dealing in a person under 18 for sexual exploitation,
while Lata’s partner Avneesh Sehgal sentenced
to four years and eight months in prison for his part in
the offending.
In cases not prosecuted as slavery,
debt bondage or immigration-related promises or threats have
been used against workers to exploit them in slavery-like
conditions.
A ministerial advisory group set up to
deal with cross-border and serious crime reported
that nearly four
times the number of migrant exploitation complaints had been
made in 2024 compared with the previous year.
“It
is highly likely that serious migrant exploitation, such as
people-trafficking, forced labour and sexual exploitation,
is underreported and growing within New
Zealand.”
University of Auckland’s Centre for Research
on Modern Slavery director Christina Stringer said the small
numbers of slavery prosecutions, as well as human
trafficking, may suggest they are rare – but she strongly
disagrees.
“Successful prosecutions often rely heavily
on victim testimony, and many migrant workers may be
unwilling to come forward – or may not even recognise
themselves as victims.”
Tuai will find out his fate in
February and will be remanded in custody until then. The
maximum sentence for slavery is currently 14 years, and 20
years for rape.
Where to get help:
- Need
to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a
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concerned about family or friends. - Depression Helpline:
0800 111 757 (24/7) or text 4202 - Samaritans: 0800
726 666 (24/7) - Youthline:
0800 376 633 (24/7) or free text 234 (8am-12am), or email
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8pm or text 832 Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm. Languages
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Helpline: 0800 787 254 - Healthline: 0800 611
116 - Rainbow Youth: (09) 376
4155\ - OUTLine: 0800 688 5463
(6pm-9pm)
If it is an emergency and you feel
like you or someone else is at risk, call
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