Strangers in their own land: how a new citizenship category could avoid a trap for Indigenous children born overseas

John Bryers Ruddock was born in Australia but is a New Zealand citizen by descent through his Māori mother. However, his children are not citizens under the current law because they were born in the United States. John Bryers Ruddock, CC BY-SA

Outdated laws mean Indigenous children in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia can currently be denied citizenship on the lands of their ancestors.

The issue came to the fore last month, when the Waitangi Tribunal in New Zealand considered an urgent claim, challenging whether the Crown has met Treaty of Waitangi obligations to protect the citizenship rights of Māori children born overseas.