New Zealand PM urges Australia to 'do the right thing' over terror suspect's citizenship
Reuters
Published Feb 15, 2021 08:37PM ET
Updated Feb 15, 2021 10:15PM ET
By Praveen Menon and Colin Packham
WELLINGTON/SYDNEY (Reuters) - New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday accused Australia of abdicating its responsibilities by "unilaterally" cancelling the citizenship of a woman detained in Turkey and accused of having links to the Islamic State.
Turkish authorities on Monday said they had caught three New Zealanders, two children and a 26-year-old woman alleged to be a member of Islamic State, trying to enter Turkey illegally from Syria.
The woman had held New Zealand and Australian citizenships, but the Australian government cancelled her citizenship, Ardern told reporters in Wellington.
The 40-year-old leader said Australia had "abdicated its responsibilities" by unilaterally cancelling the citizenship, forcing New Zealand to shoulder the responsibility for the woman, who has not lived in New Zealand since she was 6.
"New Zealand, frankly, is tired of having Australia exporting its problems," Ardern said. "If the shoe were on the other foot we would take responsibility, that would be the right thing to do and I ask Australia to do the same."
Australian Prime Minister Morrison in a news conference in Canberra said: "My job is Australia's interests. That's my job. And it's my job as the Australian Prime Minister to put Australia's national security interests first. I think all Australians would agree with that."
He said he was scheduled to speak with Ardern today but added that legislation passed in parliament automatically cancels the citizenship of a dual citizen accused of being engaged in terrorist activities.
The woman's case has been known to Australian and New Zealand authorities for some time. Ardern said that after Australia stripped her of her citizenship, she told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that the decision was wrong.
"I never believed the right response was to simply have a race to revoke people's citizenships ... they did not act in good faith," she said.
Ardern said her government has an obligation to its citizens regardless of the circumstances or offences committed, and that decisions would be driven by the fact that two small children "who did not make the choice of being born in a war zone" were involved.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.