Posted By

Tags

“Detainee in Turkey should be deradicalised” say Muslim women

Anjum Rahman
Hamilton, February 16, 2021

Islamic Women’s Council Spokesperson Anjum Rahman (RNZ Picture by Luke Mcpake)

The woman detained at the Turkish border who was born in New Zealand left here at a young age for Australia.  This confirms the information released in 2016 by the Director of the Secret Intelligence Service that women travelling to Syria had live in Australia for many years and had left from there.  For this reason, IWCNZ holds the Australian government as holding the primary responsibility in this case.

Concern for children

However, we would caution that there are two young children whose wellbeing should not be lost in any tussle between the two governments. Those children are caught up in this situation through no fault of their own.

As a normal part of the justice process, as would be the case for any other crime, the woman in this case should go through a rehabilitation and deradicalisation process to ensure that she is able to be a good parent to her children.

In response to the Royal Commission report into the Christchurch Mosque attacks, the government announced investment into a Multi-Agency Coordination and Intervention Programme, to be led by the New Zealand Police.

Coordination and Intervention

This situation shows the urgent need for such a programme, which our community on our own does not have the resourcing or expertise to develop.  It is needed not just for case like this, but for other types of extremism already visible in New Zealand.

Research shows the rehabilitation and deradicalisation programmes work best when there is support from family and the wider community.  In this particular case, the woman concerned has family in Australia, and it would be most effective to place her there after she had gone through the justice process in Turkey.

IWCNZ calls on both the Australian and New Zealand governments to put the wellbeing of the children at the heart of any decisions they make, both in terms of their immediate and long-term future.

Anjum Rahman is the Media Spokesperson for Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand. She lives in Hamilton.

 

Share this story

Related Stories

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Indian Newslink

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement