As the U.S. government lends its support, at least two women known as ISIS brides are likely to face arrest upon their return to Australia. This development follows the impending repatriation of a group of women and children from the Al-Roj detention camp in northeastern Syria.
Last Friday, four women along with their nine children left the Al-Roj camp for Damascus. From there, they plan to catch a flight back to Australia, taking advantage of a temporary ceasefire in the Iran conflict that has opened a narrow window for their departure.
The group has already secured airline tickets for their return journey. Australian authorities, who have been on high alert for their arrival for several months, are prepared to take action as soon as the women set foot on home soil, according to Sky News host Sharri Markson.
“I can disclose that two of the ISIS brides are expected to be detained the moment they arrive in Australia,” Markson reported on Tuesday.
The women are anticipated to land in Australia by next week. Markson also mentioned that additional arrests have not been ruled out as authorities continue to assess the situation.
The ISIS brides are expected to be in Australia by next week, and Markson revealed further arrests are not being ruled out.
‘They have been issued air-tickets and passports to return to Australia, although the Albanese government has not confirmed return time or day yet,’ she said.
It comes as it emerged the US State Department stepped in behind the scenes to help secure the departure of the ISIS brides and their children.
At least two ISIS brides are expected to be arrested when they return to Australia (pictured are Australian women at Syria’s Al-Roj camp in February)
The cohort of ISIS brides are expected to be in Australia by next week
It is understood the State Department used high-level diplomatic pressure on Syria to help facilitate the cohort’s return, The Australian reported.
The final decision to authorise their transfer was made by Syria’s Foreign Minister, Asaad al-Shaibani.
Terrorism and religious extremism expert Josh Roose explained that the US had a practical reason for the helping the ISIS brides.
‘This is very practical problem for the United States. On the one hand, they fund the camps via Kurdish forces in the region, and they want they want to basically save resources,’ he told Sunrise.
‘These camps are expensive to run. And in the context of the wider conflict, they’re keen to pull back and expend those resources elsewhere.’
He said there were also growing security concerns about allowing the camps to continue operating.
‘Also, they’re on record as having stated that the al-Roj camp and others like it are security problems,’ Mr Roose added.
‘You’ve got a concentration of Islamic State former fighters, extended families, and really what what that entails is a space for potential further radicalisation and consolidation of that group.’
It comes after a mission to repatriate 11 Australian women and their 23 children who left the Al-Roj camp (pictured) failed when they were turned around just 50km into their journey
Mr Roose said it was likely that the Australian government knew about the US position.
‘The Americans were on record as having stated their their wish for Australia to repatriate these these families for some for some months, it’s likely that the Australian government were aware of that that position,’ he added.
Anyone who had committed a crime would face the consequences when they re-entered Australia, Immigration Minister Tony Burke warned.
‘People in this cohort need to know that if they have committed a crime and if they return to Australia they will be met with the full force of the law,’ he said in a statement.
A group of about 30 women and children has been trying to return home to Australia from Syria for years after travelling to the Middle East with men who sought to fight for Islamic State before the caliphate was toppled in 2019.
The larger cohort recently attempted to leave the Al-Roj camp for Damascus in order to travel to Australia, but was turned around by local authorities and forced to return.
Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam said a ‘policy of self-managed returns’ was a surrendering of the government’s responsibility to make hard decisions in the national interest.
‘If they have not done security checks over the last four years yet issued them passports, it indicates tacit approval of terrorist sympathisers to come back,’ he said.
One of the women from the wider group was barred from entering the country because of fears she could pose a security risk, and One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said more should be excluded.
‘These are women … who were a party to some of the most horrendous crimes in the history of the world,’ he said.
‘If we’ve got a temporary exclusion on one, we should be doing everything to get a temporary exclusion on the lot.’
