NZ has 'abandoned me', elderly father of terrorist attack victim says

Monday, 29 March 2021

Christchurch mosque victim Syed Areeb Ahmed, left, was the only financial support for his elderly parents, Syed Ayaz Ahmed and Tazeem Fatema, right. Pictured with his young sister Abeer Fatema.

Elderly Pakistani parents of a Christchurch terrorist attack victim say they have received no support from the government and are struggling without their son’s salary.

Accountant Syed Areeb Ahmed sent $2200 a month to his elderly parents in Karachi, Pakistan, before he was killed at Masjid An Nur (Al Noor Mosque) in the March 15, 2019 attack.

MP Andrew Little says there will be no compensation for victims, other than through ACC payments to Kiwis.

His father Syed Ayaz Ahmed is now calling for the New Zealand government to step up to support him and his wife as their money fast runs out.

He is among several overseas family of victims who have spoken to Stuff about feeling abandoned by “cruel” government criteria that only supports families within Aotearoa through ACC and other agency support.

Syed Areeb Ahmed was killed in the Christchurch mosque attacks, and his parents in Pakistan say they no longer have any income to live.

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Andrew Little, the minister in charge of the response to the Royal Commission report into the attack, said the Government had provided “significant” support and the “Royal Commission did not make a recommendation to pay compensation to overseas families”.

It comes after the Human Rights Commission released a report calling for the Government to abide by United Nations terrorism response guidelines and offer reparations and redress to victims.

Ahmed was in tears as he explained the pain of losing his only son – a “loving, caring, and intelligent man” – who the family was “totally dependent on” for income.

He was proud when his son was invited to work for professional services firm PwC in Christchurch, and his son sent half his salary home to his parents – as was custom of Pakistani sons.

Ahmed and his wife have received no financial or social support from the Government, in a country his son knew as fair and just, he said.

Karam Bibi, right, Ghulam Hussain, middle, and their son Zeshan Raza. Before the terrorist attack, the Pakistan-based parents were happy sightseeing and getting to know Raza's new home in Christchurch.

“I feel I have been abandoned by the Government,” he told Stuff.

He is grateful for donations from the public, which he used to buy the home he and his family rented.

But those donations are fast depleting, and he is scared of their future in a country with no elderly welfare system.

Their only other child, a daughter, is newly married and in a family financially struggling amid Covid-19-hit Karachi.

Mariam Gul's father, mother and brother were killed on March 15.

Little said ACC death benefits for dependents could be paid to people based overseas – including funeral grants, survivor grants, weekly compensation and childcare costs for partners or spouses.

Under the legislation, someone could only be paid weekly compensation based on their child’s earnings if they were a financially dependent on them due to their “physical or mental condition”.

Ahmed said he wrote to ACC for support, but he was told he did not qualify.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern delivers a summary of the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Mosques. (Video first published in December 2020)

Mariam Gul lost her parents Karam Bibi, 63, and Ghulam Hussain, 66, during Friday prayers at Christchurch's Linwood mosque, along with her only sibling Zeshan Raza, 38.

She said there were “multiple families” abroad feeling neglected by a “cruel” government offering nothing in support.

“Nobody wants to fight for us there in New Zealand.

Victims were still victims no matter where they were living, she said.

She believed the attack was a failure of the government.

Community advisor Raf Manji could see why some victim families overseas might be feeling the Government had “washed their hands of them”, particularly because ACC offered them no support.

“We know the ACC model is not the appropriate model in response to a terrorist attack.”

Associate Minister for Social Development Priyanca Radhakrishnan said only Christchurch-based victims would be considered for the collective impact board currently seeking nominations.

But she expected the board, set up to help communicate community needs to agencies, would “ensure their voice is heard and responded to”.