In Brief:
- Four Australian families have left a camp in Syria in a renewed attempt to return home.
- The families’ departure was reportedly organised in co-ordination with the Syrian government in Damascus.
In a renewed effort to return to Australia, four Australian families have exited a Syrian camp known for housing individuals linked to the Islamic State group, officials reported.
Reporters from the Associated Press observed as 13 women and children left Roj camp, a secluded site near Iraq’s border, which is home to relatives of suspected IS affiliates. Their exit was facilitated by a bus under the escort of a Syrian government delegation.
Lana Hussein, an official with the Women’s Protection Units of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which is responsible for the camp’s security, stated that the families’ departure was coordinated with Damascus’ central government.
Hussein mentioned that the families would likely stay in Damascus for about 72 hours before being “deported under security procedures.”
There was no immediate response from the Syrian foreign ministry or the Australian government when asked for comments.
Earlier, in February, a plan to repatriate 34 women and children from the camp to Australia was aborted after Syrian authorities blocked their return.
Australian authorities at the time said they would not repatriate the families, and the Albanese government later issued a temporary exclusion order banning one of the women from returning.
It was not immediately clear if there had been co-ordination with the Australian government before the new attempt on Friday.
Roj camp is in an area of northeast Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, but the Australians had planned to fly out of Damascus.
Camp officials said at the time that the planned repatriations were organised by family members of the returnees rather than directly by Australian authorities.
Former IS fighters from multiple countries, their wives and children, were held in a network of camps and detention centres in northeast Syria after the militant group lost control of its territory in Syria in 2019. Though defeated, the group still has sleeper cells that carry out deadly attacks in both Syria and Iraq.
The larger al-Hol camp has now been closed down, while thousands of suspected IS militants previously held in Syria were transferred to Iraq by the US military to stand trial there.
The moves came after fighting broke out between government forces and the SDF in January. Government forces seized much of the territory formerly held by the SDF. Amid the chaos and clashes, many detainees fled al Hol and some prisoners escaped from a detention centre.
Australian governments have repatriated Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions. Other Australians have also returned without government assistance.
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