Police meet group of 13 ISIS-linked members as they land at airports in Sydney and Melbourne

A heavy police presence has met a group of 13 ISIS-linked members at airports in Sydney and Melbourne this evening after they managed to return from Syria.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett has vowed there will be “some” arrests from the group of four women and nine children.

The women — who left Syria’s Al-Roj detention camp in late April and travelled via Damascus — had secured commercial flights from Doha to Australia.

They were aboard QR904 which landed at Melbourne Airport at 5.27pm AEST and QR908 to Sydney Airport at 5.37pm AEST on Thursday.

They’re among 34 women and children who have been attempting to return from northern Syrian detention camps after travelling to the region as far back as 2014 during the ISIS caliphate.

Those expected to arrive include Melbourne grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 54, her two adult daughters, Zahra Ahmed, 33, and Zeinab Ahmed, 31, and their eight children.

One of the Melbourne women is expected to be charged with offences related to alleged enslavement during their time in Syria.

Janai Safar and her nine year old son landed in Sydney minutes after the Melbourne contingent touched down. She was expected to face charges related to entering a designated exclusion zone or foreign incursion offences.

In a 2019 interview with The Australian, Ms Safar, who travelled to Syria in 2015 to marry an ISIS fighter, said she intended never to return to Australia, knowing she could face arrest.

“It was my decision to come here to go away from where women are naked on the street. I don’t want my son to be raised around that,” she said.

“I didn’t train or kill anyone. I just sat at home, and they will put me in jail, they will take my child off me. Why? I’m a Muslim.”

Ms Safar said during that interview she did not regret her decision to live under Islamic State.

The group is all Australian citizens. Some women are accused of travelling to Syria to support Islamic State fighters, while others have previously claimed they were either misled or followed family members into the conflict zone.

Commissioner Barrett said the police operation had been planned since 2015 under “Operation Kurrajong” and investigations were continuing.

“Some individuals will be arrested and charged.

“I will not flag how many individuals will be arrested or when they will be arrested to protect a number of our investigations,” Ms Barrett said at a press conference on Wednesday. Some will face continued investigations when they arrive in Australia.”

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor criticised the Government for not supporting his immigration Bill that would have outlawed anyone providing help to them.

He added that while Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke claimed the Government hadn’t helped with repatriation, the group would have needed government-issued passports and approved DNA testing before leaving.

“The Government should be doing everything it can to prevent them coming back to the country. And they haven’t,” Mr Taylor said.

“They’ve done DNA testing. They have allowed and enabled third parties to be involved in and support the repatriation. They’ve issued and distributed passports.”

Potential charges include entering or remaining in declared terrorist zones, crimes against humanity, and alleged involvement in slave trading, though authorities have indicated bail is likely.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said officers would monitor the group closely on arrival.

According to the ABC, three women and five children are returning accompanied by an uncle.

“We just want our children to be safe. It was like hell (in Syria) for them,” one woman said during their connecting flight in Doha.

Another said of the Syrian-born children: “One of the boys has an Australian accent, even though he’s never been to Australia.”

One woman travelling to Melbourne told the ABC they were most looking forward to drinking a latte from their favourite Collins Street cafe when they got back.

On Thursday reports said that two of the three women arriving in Melbourne were expected to be arrested and face terror-related charges, though they were likely to be granted bail.

“We’ll work with AFP to ensure that we’re across everything, including who (the women) are and where they are,” Mr Bush said.

“Because our job is to ensure that they are not a threat at any time, (to) any place, to public safety.”

Premier Jacinta Allan said the returning women the returning women would face consequences if laws were broken.

The group had “aligned themselves with a violent extremist organisation” and, if found to have committed offences, would “face its full force” she said.