A National MP's comments have received a frosty reception after he compared overseas students to "faulty fridges" that should be sent back to where they came from.

Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi​, a list MP based in Manukau East, has acknowledged he "could have used a better analogy" during a regular radio interview on the Indian programme, Nachda Punjab.

His comments came at the same time dozens of Indian students say they are set to be kicked out of New Zealand because their supporting visa documents were found to have been forged by agents in India.

RADIO NEW ZEALAND A licenced immigration adviser, Zinnia Manchanda, says immigration fraud that is embroiling Indian students is not an isolated case.

A migrant worker's group has labelled Bakshi's comments "derogatory" and "outrageous".

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The interview a couple of weeks ago, which was mostly not in English, translated to Bakshi saying, "if New Zealand gets fridges from China and they're faulty then they send them back".

The comment was on the back of a question from the member of the public who asked why the Government was treating Indian students as if they were "economic commodities".

Bakshi said his comments had been "misinterpreted" and weren't referring to the Indian students facing deportation but were instead aimed at "training institutes in New Zealand that are being investigated by NZQA because concerns have been raised".

But Migrant Workers Association organiser Anu Kaloti​, who was also invited on to the show said his comments were "totally unacceptable".

"For me as an Indian, the comments were really embarrassing," she said.

"It's one thing for him not to be helping but it's another to be making derogatory comments - it's outrageous."

Prime Minister John Key said he had not disciplined Bakshi, who he noted had admitted it was an unfortunate turn of phrase.

But Labour spokesman on immigration Iain Lees-Galloway said the comment showed National saw international students "as nothing more than a commodity" when many were the victims of exploitation.

"It clearly hasn't occurred to Mr Bakshi that these people are human beings who have fallen into the Government's broken immigration system."



The students facing deportation were planning one last-ditch protest on Monday night outside a public meeting being attended by Deputy Prime Minister Bill English and list MP Parmjeet Parmar​.

Kaloti said some of the students could be deported within days and it was for MPs to listen and at least "try and alleviate some of the issues".

Immigration New Zealand has issued deportation notices to 39 students, but advocacy groups have claimed that as many as 150 could in fact be sent home.