MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – The Australian government has announced it will not repatriate a group of 34 women and children with alleged ties to the Islamic State group from Syria. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed on Tuesday that these individuals, who belong to 11 families, were expected to fly from Damascus to Australia. However, they were turned back to the Roj camp in northeast Syria by Syrian authorities due to procedural issues on Monday.
Since the fall of the Islamic State group in 2019, only two groups of Australians have successfully been repatriated from Syrian camps with government assistance. Some Australians have returned independently without support from the government. Albanese refrained from commenting on reports suggesting the latest group possessed Australian passports, stating, "We are providing absolutely no support and we are not repatriating people."
He expressed a firm stance against those who traveled to participate in activities that aimed to undermine Australian society, quoting his mother, "You make your bed, you lie in it." Albanese also remarked that Save the Children, an international charity focusing on child welfare, failed to convince Australian courts of the government’s responsibility to repatriate its citizens from Syrian camps. Following a federal court ruling in favor of the government in 2024, Save the Children Australia’s CEO, Mat Tinkler, argued that there exists a moral obligation to aid in the repatriation of these families.
Albanese indicated that if the group were to make their way back to Australia without government assistance, they could face legal charges. Traveling to the former Islamic State stronghold of al-Raqqa province without a legitimate reason between 2014 and 2017 is considered an offense under Australian law, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. He acknowledged the unfortunate impact on children but reiterated that the government would not provide assistance, warning that any individuals arriving back in Australia could face the full extent of legal consequences if any laws were broken.
The last group of Australians repatriated from Syrian camps arrived in Sydney in October 2022, consisting of four mothers, who were former partners of Islamic State supporters, and 13 children. This group was assessed by Australian officials as the most vulnerable among 60 Australians held in the Roj camp at the time. Additionally, eight children of two deceased Australian Islamic State fighters were repatriated from Syria in 2019 under the previous conservative government before Albanese's center-left Labor Party administration took over.
The resurgence of the issue regarding Islamic State supporters has been rekindled in Australia following the tragic killings of 15 individuals during a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach on December 14. The attackers were allegedly influenced by the Islamic State ideology, further complicating the national dialogue on this sensitive topic.
