In Brief
- Some returning adults will face charges, the AFP commissioner has said.
- A family returning to NSW will be “actively monitored”, the state’s police commissioner says.
A family tied to the Islamic State group has shared their thoughts while traveling back to Australia.
The group, comprising four women and nine children, is anticipated to touch down late Thursday afternoon. They have been residing in the al-Roj detention camp in northern Syria since 2019, following the downfall of the Islamic State group. For more context, you can read about the collapse of IS.
Among the 34 Australian women and children who were housed at the camp, these women have often been labeled as ‘ISIS brides’ due to their alleged or actual associations with IS fighters.
An official from the camp reported to SBS Kurdish that the families were “overjoyed” upon leaving and expressed their aspirations to “begin anew.”
Onboard the aircraft, a family conveyed to SBS News on Thursday morning that “the children were absolutely thrilled and excited to be heading home.”
“They described the experience as truly incredible,” they added.
The majority of the families are set to arrive in Melbourne, with one woman and a child anticipated to land in Sydney.
Australian Federal Police Krissy Barrett has said some of the women will be arrested and charged on arrival, and others face “continued investigations”.
NSW Police commissioner Mal Lanyon told Sky News on Thursday morning the force will “actively monitor” those returning to NSW.
“With people returning from declared areas, people who have been associated with terrorist organisations, we will actively monitor those people if they return to NSW,” he said.
Lanyon said “operational reasons” restricted him from sharing information about planned arrests.
“We are working very closely with Commonwealth authorities.”
In a statement to SBS News, Victoria Police said it was aware of those arriving but did not say whether it would take similar steps to the force in NSW.
“The assessment of applications for travel documents for Australian citizens seeking to return from any foreign conflict zone is managed by the Commonwealth government,” a spokesperson said.
“Where required, Victoria Police works closely with state and federal agencies to facilitate the reintegration of women and children who return to Victoria from camps in Syria.”
Asked what would happen to some of the children if their mothers were arrested, Education Minister Jason Clare said he expected their families would step in to provide care.
Clare also said reintegration into society of the children would be difficult.
“Kids don’t get to choose who their parents are, and these children have seen sorts of things that no child should ever be exposed to, and it’s going to take time for these children to reintegrate into Australian society,” Clare told ABC TV on Thursday.
“I would expect that the federal police would want to run counter-extremism programs with all of the children that return.”
The federal Opposition has criticised the government for not intervening to stop the families from returning.
Opposition defence spokesperson James Paterson told Sky News the “revelations” that some of the cohort would be arrested was evidence that they should not have been provided passports or temporary exclusion orders.
He accused the government of “secretly preparing” for the arrivals.
The federal government has said there were limits to measures stopping their return and insists it has not provided them with any support.
Clare said federal police would be monitoring the cohort closely upon their return.
“I’ve got faith in the Australian police. They know what they’re doing. This is not their first rodeo,” he said.
While some women travelled willingly to support their partners who wanted to fight for the IS group, advocates for the group say others were trafficked, or only went to the Middle East to keep their family together.
The Australian government has carried out two successful repatriation missions since the IS group was toppled in 2019.
The Morrison government brought back eight orphaned children in June 2019, while the Albanese government repatriated four women and 13 children in October 2022.
For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.
