Islamic State supporter Suhayra Aden faces a terrorism investigation
Suhayra Aden was 6 years old when she left New Zealand. Two decades later, having survived the collapse of the Islamic State, she will be welcomed back with a terrorism investigation.
Aden will be the first publicly-known adherent of the Islamic State, or Isis, to return to New Zealand after travelling to Syria. Though she spent most of her life in Australia, she became New Zealand’s problem after Australia stripped her of citizenship for joining the extremist group.
Her deportation to New Zealand was inevitable after she was detained in Turkey, along with her two children, in February. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday that a repatriation of Aden and her two children would be “managed” under agreement with Turkey.
Though Turkey has alleged Aden is a wanted Isis terrorist, it appears unlikely she will face charges in New Zealand.
It will be difficult to obtain evidence of any terrorist activity in Syria, for a start. New Zealand’s terrorism laws have also proven unworkable when prosecuting domestic actions, let alone terror activity overseas.
And, despite concerns, a terror expert says there’s only an “infinitesimal” chance that Aden poses a risk to the public.
Ardern was unwilling to label Aden a terrorist on Monday, when she confirmed a “safety plan” was prepared to help Aden and her children integrate into New Zealand.
“I simply don’t have the information required to make any judgment,” she said.
Aden’s lawyer, Deborah Manning, said her client was “looking forward to being in New Zealand and giving her children an opportunity at living here and integrating, and really wishes to have privacy for them to allow them to settle in here and come to terms with everything they have been through”.
She was a teenager when she left Australia for Syria in 2014. ABC has reported that she had two children with Swedish men in the now-collapsed Isis territory, both are now dead. She lost a third child to pneumonia.
ABC reporter Dylan Welch, who interviewed Aden at a Syrian refugee camp, told RNZ earlier in the year there was no suggestion she fought for the extremist group, and she appeared to honestly regret joining Isis.
It’s clear the Government considers there to be some risk, though the security measures in place have been kept secret. Ardern said police and other government agencies had “used all of the tools available to us to ensure the safety of New Zealanders on this return”.
Massey University teaching fellow Dr John Battersby, who specialises in counter-terrorism and intelligence, said the police and intelligence agencies would not assume Aden was a terrorist – though she would be considered a possible risk.
There were “complexities”. Aden had lived through war and, Battersby said, evidence from across several countries showed most returning citizens had not engaged in terrorism at home.
“There’s all sorts of trauma and problems that could emerge from that. And that could be just a matter of trying to rehabilitate, reintegrate somebody back into a society. That could be the extent of the problem.
“On the other hand, it could be some underlying radical motivations that haven’t gone away … I’d say the risk is infinitesimal, but it’s there.”
Source: Stuff
