In 2014, Aden traveled to Syria via Turkey and lived under the Islamic State. Between September and October 2019, the ABC journalists Dylan Welch and Suzanne Drudge met Aden and her children at the Al-Hawl refugee camp in Syria while on an assignment to interview several Australian women who had joined ISIL. Aden reportedly expressed her desire to return to Australia. That same day, an unidentified New Zealand cabinet minister stated that Aden would be "free subject to conditions" upon returning to New Zealand.
Justice Minister Andrew Little and
Police Minister Poto Williams indicated that Aden would be subject to monitoring under "Control Orders," which were criticized by
Opposition Leader Judith Collins as insufficient. On 26 July 2021, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that Cabinet had agreed to repatriate Aden and her two children back to New Zealand. They have been held in an immigration detention centre in Turkey since 15 February 2021. The
New Zealand Police have confirmed that they are undertaking a terrorism investigation.
Massey University teaching fellow Dr John Battersby, who specialises in counter-terrorism and intelligence said that Aden would be interviewed upon arrival to New Zealand to ascertain the extent of her involvement and association with ISIL. This information would then be used to determine whether or not Aden posed a risk to the safety of New Zealanders. Battersby stated that it would be highly, highly unlikely that Aden would be charged with terrorism offences under the
Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 given the difficulty of obtaining evidence from
Syria. On 21 August 2021, Aden and her two children arrived in New Zealand on an
Air New Zealand flight. They entered into
managed isolation due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Prime Minister Ardern and the New Zealand Police also confirmed that preparations had been made to facilitate Aden and her children's return and resettlement in New Zealand. Aden's lawyer stated that Aden was looking forward to living with her children in New Zealand but wanted privacy to deal with everything they had encountered.
Political responses The Australian Government's decision to revoke Aden's Australian citizenship was criticised by Ardern, who accused Australia of abdicating its responsibilities to its citizens and indicated she had raised the matter with her Australian counterpart
Scott Morrison. Ardern confirmed that New Zealand was providing consular support to Aden and her children. Morrison defended Australia's decision as putting Australia's national security interests first, citing legislation allowing Australia to revoke the citizenship of a dual national engaged in terrorist activities. During a state visit to the New Zealand city of
Queenstown in late May 2021, Morrison reiterated Australia's decision not to allow Aden to return on the grounds that she was not an Australian citizen. However, he indicated during discussions with Ardern that Australia would be open to giving Aden's two remaining children (aged two and five) a pathway to settling in Australia.
Public responses Rodger Shahanan of the Australian think tank
Lowy Institute stated that the New Zealand Government was legally and morally obliged to look after dual New Zealand nationals who had been stripped of their foreign nationality. By contrast,
University of Auckland law Associate-Professor John Ip criticised Australia's decision to revoke Aden's citizenship as an example of "legalised
NIMBYism with dual citizens as objects." Similarly,
University of Waikato law professor
Claire Breen argued that Aden's children were innocent and should be entitled to basic human rights protection including citizenship in accordance with the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which both Australia and New Zealand are signatories to. Meanwhile, the Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand's spokesperson Anjum Rahman called for New Zealand to establish de-radicalisation programmes based on the Australian and British models. Legal expert Paul Buchanan stated that prosecutors would have to prove that Aden supported ISIL for her to be charged under anti-terror legislation such as the Terrorism Suppression Act. Similar sentiments were echoed by University of Waikato law Professor Alexander Gillespie who stated that steps needed to be taken to integrate Aden's two children into New Zealand society. ==Notes and references==