The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade call on the public to come forward if they have evidence of its officers involved in alleged sexual or monetary favour for Labour mobility selection.
The Ministry issued this statement following an allegation in the Solomon Star Newspaper of the existence of such a practice within the Labour Mobility Unit.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Mr. Collin Beck stated if the allegation are true, this is concerning and needs to be addressed. He hopes this is not a story to tarnish the reputation of the Ministry’s hard-working staff and another front-page story to sell papers.
The Permanent Secretary informed the public that recruitment criteria are straight forward and publicized whenever recruitment drives are launched. He further stressed that the Labour Mobility Unit officials carrying out the screening are merely facilitating and capturing as much information on each candidate to develop his/her profile.
The selection of preferred candidates is made by “Approved Employers” – AE or Farmers in Australia and that LMU officials will only facilitate mobilization, once selection is made by AEs.
The Permanent Secretary informed the general public to report any such issues so appropriate action can be made to deal with such cases.
He further informed that the Ministry will not tolerate any officer(s) found to be involved in such allegations.
Apart from the Australia process, New Zealand seasonal workers are mostly recruited and facilitated by local recruitment agents.
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