An Australian physician reports that his initiatives to bring back ISIS-affiliated women and their children to Australia have been paused due to the intensifying turmoil in Iran.
Dr. Jamal Rifi from Western Sydney has been working towards the return of 11 women and 23 children currently held in the Al-Roj detention camp located in northeastern Syria.
The Order of Australia honoree shared with news.com.au that the prospects for these individuals, who are enduring ‘appalling’ conditions, remain uncertain.
“The dynamics are constantly changing, but at the moment, I’m unable to proceed with any repatriation efforts because it isn’t safe for them outside the camp,” Dr. Rifi explained.
Since 2019, the group has been residing in the Kurdish-operated camp, with the doctor only managing to communicate with them intermittently via phones that were smuggled in.
“Their location is remote, bordering the desert. The winters bring severe cold, while the summers are unbearably hot. There’s no vegetation, nothing at all—just dust and wind,” Dr. Rifi described.
‘They are living in a tarpaulin tent. And those kids there are sleeping on the floor. It’s a horrendous situation.’
The GP said he was particularly worried about the health of the children, aged six to 13, who have spent most of their lives in the camp.
Dr Jamal Rifi has been trying to repatriate 11 women and 23 children from the Al-Roj detention camp in northeast Syria
Dr Rifi says the brides and their kids are enduring dire conditions at the camp
‘Panic attacks in the kids, chilblains, recurrent tonsillitis, asthma, sunstroke, medical issues,’ Dr Rifi said of the health battles they were facing.
Dr Rifi argued that enough time had passed to bring the 34 citizens back to Australia.
‘All the security experts are saying it is safer for them to be in Australia and monitored by all security agencies, rather than left there where nobody can monitor them,’ he said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he has ‘nothing but contempt’ for the women who took their children into the Islamic State and will not aid any repatriation efforts.
Pressed on whether immigration minister Tony Burke had done a pre-election deal with refugee advocates over the cohort’s future, Albanese responded bluntly.
‘I call bulls**,’ he told the Karl Stefanovic podcast on Tuesday.
Albanese said preparations had been made for the return of the women and children but did not provide further details.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor accused the Prime Minister of misleading Australians about the government’s role in repatriating ISIS brides and demanded that all 34 women be permanently barred from returning to the country.
Anthony Albanese says his government is not trying to help the brides return to Australia
Liberal leader Angus Taylor attacked the Albanese government last week, accusing it of lying about their role in bringing ISIS brides back to Australia
Taylor claimed the Labor government has spent ‘several years’ planning for the return of the women and children from Syria.
‘It’s clear [Home Affairs Minister] Tony Burke has been up to his eyeballs in assisting the repatriation,’ he said.
‘We’re going to continue to forensically look for the facts that Australians deserve to know.’
The coalition aims to introduce legislation into parliament in March, which would make it illegal to help repatriate people who had travelled to declared terrorist hotspots or committed a terrorist offence.
Albanese said the proposal was questionable at best.
‘They themselves couldn’t explain how that was constitutional,’ he told ABC Radio.
Last week, Burke confirmed the 11 ISIS brides had been issued Australian passports, but maintained the government was not ‘conducting repatriation’ for them or taking part in Dr Rifi’s private efforts.
One woman was barred from entering the country because the government feared she could pose a security risk.
Dr Rifi said because of the government’s hardline rhetoric, Syrian officials had not allowed the women and children to leave the refugee camp, for fear they might be turned back by another country on their way to Australia.
Greens home affairs spokesperson David Shoebridge slammed the coalition for proposing non-government organisations such as Save the Children Australia be criminalised for helping Australians return home.
‘The idea that any serious Australian political party would make it a crime for Australians to try and help Australian children and bring them back to safety is a remarkable low, even in the current climate on the immigration debate,’ the senator told ABC Radio.
Prof Rubenstein said there were likely no major legal hurdles to the opposition’s plan but there were still questions over whether it was the best way to handle the situation.
