‘She will die’: Afghans take New Zealand government to court over alleged visa inaction

A lawyer for the Afghans says legal proceedings are a last resort, and that Immigration New Zealand have been completely flat-footed'

In the video, New Zealand flags are burning. Their edges curl and the stars of the southern cross turn black, crumbling into the soil of a Kabul backyard. The flags are printed on sheet after sheet of paper: certificates of appreciation, thanks, and recognition of service to New Zealand.

The family burning them has held on to them for the past decade, memorialising the translation services they provided for New Zealand troops in Afghanistan. Now, those papers have become a potentially deadly hazard.