This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia, which closed in 2021.

Mother Of Murdered Backpacker Slams Trump

The White House put Mia Ayliffe-Chung's death on a 'terrorist list'
Mia Ayliffe-Chung was killed at a Queensland hostel in 2015.
Fairfax/Supplied
Mia Ayliffe-Chung was killed at a Queensland hostel in 2015.

The mother of a young woman stabbed to death in a Queensland backpacker hostel has slammed a claim by the White House her daughter's murder was a terrorist attack.

Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 20 was stabbed to death at a hostel in Queensland in August along with Thomas Jackson, 30, in August last year. Police have ruled out terrorism as a motive, and a French national has been charged with both murders.

The inclusion of here daughter's death on a list of 78 'terrorist attacks' by the White House has angered Rosie Ayliffe, who says her daughter's death must not be used to persecute innocent people.

Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 20, was killed in a Queensland backpacker's in a crime police say isn't terror related. The White House angered Mia's mother, Rosie Ayliffe, by claiming it was a terrorist attack.
Fairfax/Supplied
Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 20, was killed in a Queensland backpacker's in a crime police say isn't terror related. The White House angered Mia's mother, Rosie Ayliffe, by claiming it was a terrorist attack.

"Treating immigrants as disposable commodities and disregarding their safety causes deaths throughout our so-called civilised world," Ayliffe said in an open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump.

"The possibility of Mia and Tom's deaths being consequent to an Islamic terror attack was discounted in the early stages of the police investigation.

"One of the reasons I took to blogging... was to dispel discount the myth of a connection between my daughter's death and Islamic fundamentalism. Any fool can shout Allahu Akbar as they commit a crime."

Queensland Police said in a statement that the crimes were not about race or religion, but individual criminal behaviour.

Taking aim at Trump's travel ban, Ayliffe said the vilification of nation's and their people based on religion is a "terrifying reminder of the horror that can ensue when we allow ourselves to be led by ignorant people into darkness and hatred".

The White House list was used to underscore Trump's claim the media is under-reporting global terror attacks.

As an example, the administration used a examples such as the widely reported and heavily covered terror attacks in Nice, Brussels and Germany.

It also included five Australian incidents, including the 2014 Lindt Cafe Siege in Sydney and the 2015 murder of police accountant Curtis Cheng in Parramatta.

Both incidents gained widespread media coverage.

U.S. journalists have been quick to tear down Trump's claims about the list.

.@AndersonCooper responds to White House list of undercovered attacks: "We covered them heavily" https://t.co/r7BEVjUobf

Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) February 7, 2017

Trump's administration has also been been criticised for focusing on Western targets, as well as for including events that were extensively covered by the media.

Last week a 27-year-old French-Canadian man killed six people and wounded eight others after opening fire inside a Quebec City mosque.

That attack is not listed by the White House.

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia. Certain site features have been disabled. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.