My husband: The Kiwi jihadist
Debating the fate of New Zealander Mark Taylor, known as the ‘‘Kiwi Jihadi’’, leads on to the case of ‘‘Isis bride’’ Shamima Begum, who is trying to get back into Britain after leaving in 2015 to join Islamic State in Syria and marrying a Dutch jihadist.
Begum, just 15 when she left, is now 19 and has a baby son, but faces the possibility of ending up stateless after escaping from Baghuz, the last Isis territory in eastern Syria. With her husband captured by Syrian fighters, she and her baby have ended up in a massive refugee camp in northern Syria, two faces in a sea of 39,000 inhabitants.
She wants to return to Britain, but the country she left has revoked her citizenship on the grounds she is a Bangladeshi national through her mother, the BBC has reported. That has since been disputed by Bangladesh’s ministry of foreign affairs, which says she is not a citizen and will not be allowed in. Begum’s family are challenging the revocation of her citizenship, with Britain’s opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, arguing she has a right to return.
Though there is likely to be strong opposition here, the indications from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Justice Minister Andrew Little that Taylor will not be denied his basic human rights as a citizen are to be welcomed. He won’t be left stateless. He has made his bed by going to Syria, despite warnings, and must deal with the fact New Zealand ‘‘cannot offer consular assistance’’ there. However, the route home is not completely blocked.
In many ways, his situation parallels that of Begum’s husband, Yago Riedijk. The Dutch justice ministry has made it clear those who left to fight for Islamic State and wish to return home will receive no government help. But it has also said that, if Riedijk was to turn himself in at a Dutch embassy or consulate, he would be sent back to the Netherlands to serve the six-year prison term joining a terror organisation attracts there.
What might happen to Taylor if he could make his own way to consular assistance – the closest available is in Turkey – and return to New Zealand is not certain. Ardern has been clear ‘‘it is unlawful to join and fight with a terrorist organisation as Mark Taylor has done’’, so there would be legal consequences – and there should be. A thorough investigation would be inevitable. Just how a Kiwi became radicalised to the extent Taylor did, and any local connections to that process, would have to be canvassed for the safety of New Zealanders.
Ardern has been clear that concern is paramount, and expressed confidence in the ability of the relevant agencies to keep Kiwis safe.
Should Taylor make it home to face the consequences of his actions, those the Government will be trying to keep safe from organisations like the one he joined will include refugees from Syria who have arrived here, displaced from their homes by the conflict he was part of.