Law and Borders

Are

terrorists and criminals hiding in New Zealand or using its passport as cover abroad? A spate of scandals has Kiwis wondering - and worrying. The jailing of a refugee accused of terrorist ties, a citizenship ban on three New Zealand residents, passport fraud charges against two Israeli visitors and a local immigration agency, and a forgery scam that's compromised hundreds of Kiwi passports have made border security a topic nearly as talked-about as rugby. Amid calls from New Zealand First M.P. Ron Mark to "act to protect this country before it is too late," and pleas from Progressive M.P. Matt Robson to avoid "a hysterical reaction to the threat of terrorism," the Labour-led government is moving to toughen passport, citizenship and immigration rules. But while Kiwis "cannot afford to be complacent," says Foreign Minister Phil Goff, "our border protection is probably as tough as anywhere. New Zealand is far from a soft touch."

Ahmed Zaoui knows just how hard the country can be. In December 2002, the fugitive Algerian politician stepped off a plane from Malaysia, asked for asylum - and was hustled, under heavy police guard, into a maximum-security jail. Zaoui, a member of his country's banned Islamic Salvation Front party, had been convicted by Algerian, Belgian and French courts of assisting or associating with terrorists. Declaring those rulings "unsafe," New Zealand's Refugee Status Appeals Authority granted Zaoui asylum last August. But the government insisted that his "continued presence in New Zealand constitutes a threat to national security." He is now in his 17th month in jail.

In March, while hundreds protested on Zaoui's behalf, the head of the Security Intelligence Service, Richard Woods, announced that terrorists might be using New Zealand as a "haven … a place to lie low for a while." The SIS was "identifying more people in or from New Zealand who are of terrorist or other security concern," Woods said. In the past year, he revealed, three New Zealand residents had been refused passports after being ruled "security risks." The opposition National Party wants the three expelled. "If we allow people to come here and stay here even though they're a security risk," says immigration spokesman Wayne Mapp, "then we essentially invite others like them to come to this country as a safe haven."

It's not impossible that members of terrorist groups are living in New Zealand, says Foreign Minister Goff, but nor is it likely. "Because we're a small country," he says, "we're very nosy people. If people turn up behaving oddly, we tend to notice." (In 2000, Auckland police said they'd busted a plot to blow up Sydney's nuclear reactor during the Olympic Games. The evidence fell apart and all charges against the suspects, two Afghan taxi drivers, were dropped. A retired Australian intelligence officer familiar with the case puts it down to "police hysteria.") The 40,000-strong Muslim community has "nothing for terrorists to organize," says Paul Buchanan, a former U.S. defense and security consultant who teaches politics at Auckland University. "And the logistics of trying to mount an attack here are rather insurmountable." The only reasons a terrorist might visit New Zealand, Buchanan says, would be "to hide, or if they're in transit to someplace else."