Isis demise may have NZ impact
Australia is bracing for a flood of returning foreign fighters as the Islamic State crumbles - and Kiwis could be among them.
The threat was among issues raised in talks between Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Auckland with her counterpart Murray McCully and Prime Minister John Key.
Bishop said Australia had stepped up its support for police and the intelligence and security agencies in response to the threat.
While New Zealand’s foreign fighter numbers are smaller, the Government will be under pressure to match that.
‘‘As Isis comes under increasing pressure in Syria and Iraq and particularly as a result of the Mosul offensive, there is an even greater risk that more foreign fighters will seek to leave and some will try to return to their home countries,’’ Bishop said.
‘‘We believe there are about 110 Australians currently fighting in or engaged with a terrorist organisation in Syria and Iraq and we expect some of them will seek to return.
‘‘So monitoring and disrupting their movement is obviously an international effort but we are actively involved in various coalitions and forums and working in partnership with countries in the region to track the fighters.’’
The NZ Government has confirmed a handful of Kiwis are among the ranks of foreign ‘‘jihadis’’ who have flocked to Syria and Iraq in support the Islamic State, some of them leaving via Australia.
So-called ‘‘jihadi brides’’ from New Zealand have also left for Syria via Australia.
Former Australian army chief Peter Leahy said security agencies would be on ‘‘high alert’ as Isis crumbled.
‘‘It looks as though Isis will fall in Iraq, and more than 100 or so Aussies are there right now fighting alongside them. We are potentially going to see more young jihadists here, plotting and attempting to carry out attacks. So our security agencies are going to have to be on high alert,’’ Leahy said. ‘‘It is a significant concern.’’ Bishop said Australia would share any information it had about Kiwi jihadis and combating the threat was a regional effort.
The Australian government had beefed up its funding and legislative support to the law enforcement agencies to counter the risk. It was also working closely with Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
‘‘And of course we have a very close relationship with New Zealand so we’re sharing information, experiences and ideas and will continue to do so.’’
Bishop said Australia was very focused on the threat because it had been brought close to home on many occasions.
Australians had been at the receiving end of terrorist attacks in Bali, Indonesia and Europe.
‘‘So we’ve also had a number of attempted terrorist attacks in Australia that have been thwarted and a significant number of people under arrest or indeed jailed for terrorist-related activities,’’ she said.
Asked if the threat was significant enough to put the relatively open borders between New Zealand and Australia at threat, Bishop indicated she had confidence in the systems currently in place.
‘‘I believe we have a very good working arrangement in terms of our immigration, customs and flow of people we share a great deal of information.
‘‘The flow of people between our two countries is open but it’s also subject to very high levels of information exchange.
‘‘Our security intelligence and law enforcement agencies work exceedingly closely together to ensure we know [who is] coming into our countries,’’ Bishop said. - Fairfax NZ