Former Nauru opposition MP Roland Kun, who escaped earlier this week, says the New Zealand Government did everything it could to help him.
Mr Kun's Nauruan passport was cancelled amid accusations he had taken part in protests outside Parliament about the apparent breakdown in the rule of law. This meant he was unable to leave the country.
He still denies any involvement in the protests.
Roland Kun with his family at the RNZ studio in Wellington, New Zealand. Photo: RNZ/William Ray
He applied for New Zealand citizenship in December last year in order to join his family in Wellington.
His lawyer, Claudia Geiringer, said his New Zealand passport was issued 12 days ago and sent to Nauru. Despite fears he would be arrested before boarding a flight, he escaped the country via Brisbane.
He told Nine to Noon that after more than a year apart, being reunited with his wife and three young children in New Zealand was a massive relief, although his children found it emotionally difficult.
He said they do not remember him the same as before.
He believes the Nauru government wanted to forget about him but the New Zealand Government did all it could to help.
"That was exactly what they needed to do; raise the issues about the existence of rule of law in Nauru and this was the exact thing I had spoken to the media about prior to my suspension from Parliament and then my passport being taken off me," he said.
He said he still had major concerns about the function of democracy in Nauru and the moral compass of some politicians.
He has never been arrested or charged and said he had never been given a clear reason for his passport being cancelled.
"As far as I'm concerned they never had any reason to cancel my passport and no legal basis," he said.
"We never got our day in court. We ran around for six months making technical arguments until the court said I was out of time and threw my matter out."
While trapped in Nauru he said he relied heavily on his extended family and lived with his sister.
He said a downside of leaving is he is now separated from them and does not know when he might see them again.
