The government has proved they’re not fit to protect the needs of at risk youth, National MP Alfred Ngaro says.

Ngaro was responding to the escape of Haami Hanara (16) and Sean Ratu (17) from South Auckland youth justice facility, Korowai Manaaki, managed by Oranga Tamariki.

“When the government proposed to put Haami into Korowai Manaaki to serve his sentence I spoke out. Korowai Manaaki was not built to house high risk offenders.”

“I raised these of issues concern with the Minister for Children, Tracey Martin, and I was told that it would be safe. And now this young offender is on the run. The Minister needs to have a good hard look at her portfolio and decide whether she is still capable of performing her role.”

“Housing high risk young people in facilities not designed for them is a failure of government. They have put the family he offended against at risk, they have put the local community at risk, and they have put the young offender at risk.”

Haami Hanara killed homeless man Kelly Donnor in Hastings after stabbing him four times in March 2018.

“Haami has serious issues and needs intensive intervention in a safe and secure facility appropriate to his needs.”

“In many ways Haami Hanara is symptomatic of this government’s and the Minister for Children’s failure. The uplift of Maori children, Increasing child poverty, homelessness, and corresponding hopelessness will see an ever increasing number of ‘Haami’s’ coming before the courts.”

The government is not taking youth offending, and the devastation such offending causes, seriously.

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