A sense of belonging is crucial to stop refugees becoming isolated, yet our policies define them as the ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’

The New Lynn mall terror attack in west Auckland on Friday last week that left five people in hospital and the perpetrator shot dead underscores how isolation and a lack of belonging can create fertile ground for extremist ideas to take root.

As the public conversation moves from descriptions of the event to suggestions of what comes next, we also need to consider why he became so isolated. While the details of this individual continue to be released, the larger context about how people seek asylum, and how they are treated, warrant consideration.

As number of victims updated from six to seven, police say ‘every legal avenue’ was explored to try to contain threat of attack

Seven people were injured in the Islamic State-inspired terror attack in New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern has said, updating initial reports that only six people had been hurt.

Speaking at a media conference in Wellington on Saturday, New Zealand’s prime minister said that of the seven injured, five were in hospital, and three of them were in a critical condition.

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern says a man who allegedly attacked six people in an Auckland supermarket on Friday was a 'violent extremist' who was being monitored by police. In a press conference following the attack, she said police shot him dead within 60 seconds of the attack starting. Three people were in a critical condition. Ardern said: 'What happened today was despicable. It was hateful, it was wrong, it was carried out by an individual, not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity, but an individual person who was gripped by ideology that is not supported here by anyone or any community. He alone carries the responsibility for these acts' 

• New Zealand shooting: man shot dead by police after ‘terrorist attack’ in Auckland that injured six