Is Khaled Sharrouf’s family still entitled to Australian citizenship? Foreign Minister wants a national debate
The image that shocked the world: A boy holds the decapitated head of a soldier in the Syrian city of Raqqa. Source: Supplied Source: Twitter
A SEVEN-year-old Australian boy who horrified the world when he was photographed holding the severed head of a Syrian soldier by the hair has created a quandary for the Federal Government, which wants to make scores of Australian fighters in the Middle East someone else’s problem by revoking their citizenship.
News that the boy’s mother has had enough of the horrors of Syria and wants to bring her five children back home to Sydney prompted questions about how governments should protect their own citizens and where to draw the line between terrorists and their victims.
Sydney-born convicted terrorist Khaled Sharrouf posted a photo on his Twitter account from Syria of his youngest son with his extended arms straining under the weight of the gruesome trophy.
But dual nationals fighting with groups such as Islamic State would be taken back by Australia if their citizenship was stripped by another country, even if they were known to be committing acts of terrorism, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says.
As the Federal Government debates whether to allow dual citizens to be stripped of their right to be Australian, Mr Dutton conceded Australia had a legal obligation to accept back individuals if their citizenship is revoked by another jurisdiction.
“We have a constitutional obligation to provide citizenship to that person,” Mr Dutton told Sky News.
“If that person has dual citizenship they will fall back to that citizenship but if they’re to be rendered stateless, as I’ve said clearly, in that situation we’re not going to allow that to happen.” The plan to revoke the citizenship of dual nationals, flagged by Prime Minister Tony Abbott would give discretion on making decisions to Mr Dutton.
The Australian legislation is based on similar laws in the UK. If the legislation is enacted, Tara Nettleton’s children could be placed in state care upon their return.
“If they’re infants, for example, then they would be in state care as we’ve seen with some people who have decided to abandon their children and go and fight — abandon their children and fight in the name of ISIL,” he said.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop weighed in on the debate and said there needed to be a national conversation about citizenship and changes to laws to keep Australians safe from the threat of homegrown terrorism.
“We’re looking at a range of (legal) options,” she said.
“We’re looking at our citizen act to see if it reflects the reality of the terrorist threat which is now more complex, mor dangerous and more global than we’ve ever seen.”
Bishop calls for neighbours to fight IS
Ms Bishop denied there had been a breakdown in trust between her and Prime Minister Tony Abbott, following reports cabinet was ambushed by a proposal to strip Australians suspected of terror offences of their sole citizenship.
“We expect there to be a national conversation about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and about a proposal to strip those who undertake terrorist activities and do harm to Australians of their citizenship,” she said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry described the notorious image (pictured above) as “one of the most disturbing, stomach-turning, grotesque photographs ever displayed.”
Sharrouf also posted a photograph of his three sons posing with him in matching camouflage fatigues and armed with assault rifles and a pistol with an Islamic State flag as a backdrop.
The Australian family of Sharrouf’s Muslim-convert wife, Tara Nettleton, was trying to help her bring her three young boys and two teenage daughters to Sydney.
There is no evidence that Sharoouf, who slipped out of Australia in late 2013 using his brother’s passport because his own had been cancelled, wants to return to Australia.
A child believed to be that of Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf in Syria. Source: ABC
Khaled Sharrouf. Source: Supplied Source: Twitter
Police have confirmed he faces an arrest warrant in Australia on terrorism offences.
Nettleton later took their children to Syria to reunite with her husband, flying with round trip tickets for Malaysia to hide from Sydney airport officials their intended final destination.
Australia used controversial new counterterrorism laws in December to make even visiting the Islamic State movement’s stronghold of al-Raqqa province in Syria a criminal offence punishable by 10 years in prison.
Australia has cancelled the passports of scores of suspected extremists, preventing would-be jihadis from leaving the country and stranding foreign fighters overseas.
More than 100 Australians are suspected to be fighting with the Islamic State movement and other terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq. The government estimates that up to half of those fighters are dual citizens.
The London-based International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence estimates that up to 250 Australians have joined Sunni militants fighting in Iraq and Syria.
Terrorism expert Greg Barton, acting director of the Center for Islam and the Modern World, said the case demonstrated that dealing with foreign fighters was more complex than the government’s simplistic message.
“The political rhetoric about the kids is that they’re not our responsibility,” Mr Barton said.
“The reality is that if we have any opportunity of bringing these kids out ... we’re going to have to focus on helping the kids.”
Mr Barton said that while the Sharrouf children are not to blame for their parents taking them to Syria, there also are Australians as young as 17 who have chosen to go with the help of Islamic State online recruiters. Some will be disillusioned and could be rehabilitated, he said.
“We have a responsibility not to export terror,” he Barton said.
The Cabinet’s rejection this week of a proposal to allow Australians without dual nationality to lose their citizenship if they could apply for citizenship from an immigrant parent’s homeland shows there is division among ministers over the Australian approach, Barton said.
George Williams, a University of New South Wales constitutional law professor, said there could be a constitutional court challenge of the proposed change to the citizenship law.
“Australia is much better equipped to actually deal with what are dangerous people than the nations that they’ll end up stuck in,” Williams said.
Sharrouf was among nine Muslim men accused in 2007 of stockpiling bomb-making materials and plotting terrorist attacks in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s largest cities.
He pleaded guilty to terrorism offences in 2009 and served less than four years in prison.
Khaled Sharrouf's family want to return to Australia
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