The telegraph
New Zealand furious at Australia for canceling citizenship of ISIS terrorist suspect with dual nationality
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern accused Australia of “exporting its problems” for canceling the citizenship of an Australian-New Zealand dual national who allegedly joined the Islamic State in Syria. On Monday, Turkey’s Ministry of Defense said a 26-year-old New Zealand “Daesh terrorist” was being deported with his two children after Turkish border officials caught them crossing illegally from northwestern Syria’s Idlib province. Media reports identified the woman as Suhayra Aden, who moved from New Zealand to Australia when she was six years old and lived in Melbourne before traveling to Syria with her Australian passport in 2014 to live under the so-called Islamic State. On Tuesday, an angry Mrs. Ardern said she had spoken to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison about dual nationality in 2019, after she was detained with her two children after West-backed Syrian Kurdish forces resumed the part. end of ISIS territory in Syria. Mr Morrison then revoked Mrs Aden’s citizenship without telling Mrs Ardern, leaving New Zealand to deal with the dilemma alone. “You can imagine my answer,” she said, after learning the following year that Australia acted unilaterally. “Our very strong opinion on behalf of the New Zealanders was that this individual was clearly treated more appropriately in Australia … This is where his family resides, this is where his ties reside and this is where they left for Syria,” she said . . Mrs Ardern said that the welfare of Mrs Aden’s surviving children, aged five and two, was paramount. “These children were born in a conflict zone without any fault,” Mrs. Ardern. Mrs. Aden had a third child who died of pneumonia, after marrying twice in Syria to Swedish citizens, who also died. Ms. Ardern said that Australia “abdicated responsibility” for Mrs. Aden, who spent most of her life in Australia. “New Zealand, frankly, is tired of having Australia export its problems,” said Ardern. “If we were on the other foot, we would take responsibility, it would be the right thing to do and I ask Australia to do the same.” But an uncontroversial Mr. Morrison said that his only concern was the safety of Australians. “It is my job as Prime Minister of Australia to put Australia’s national security interests first,” he said at a news conference. Australian legislation to automatically cancel citizenship for citizens with dual nationality determined to have been involved in terrorism has been used against at least 17 people who allegedly joined IS. The case highlights the unresolved issue of tens of thousands of prisoners left in limbo after IS ‘territorial defeat. Most are kept in precarious conditions in Al-Hol, close to the Iraqi border, although after hundreds of escapes from camp officials last year, dozens of Western prisoners have transferred dozens of Western prisoners to the smaller, more secure camp. Roj. At the same time, it is estimated that 66 Australians, including 44 children, were in the camps, although the Australian government repatriated eight children in June 2019 and others may have escaped. A New Zealand man is known to have been detained in northeastern Syria. Mark Taylor, who became known as the bumbling Jihadi for revealing his location in posts calling for attacks on New Zealanders, has been held in a Kurdish prison since his surrender in late 2018. Earlier this month, a group of United Nations experts called 57 governments that allegedly had citizens in the camps to repatriate their citizens, after reports that 20 people were murdered in Al-Hol in January.