Australian ISIS brides: Families linked to the Islamic State secure flights home, reports
A group of women and children linked to former ISIS fighters has reportedly overcome a major hurdle to return home.
A group of Australian women and children attempting to return to Australia after years of detention in Syria over their linked to the Islamic State have reportedly secured plane tickets home.
They are due to depart the Syrian capital of Damascus in coming days, the Sydney Morning Herald reports, after leaving the Al-Roj detention camp on Saturday in co-ordination with security forces.
The group, comprising four women and nine children, had previously received passports through prominent western Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi.
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They had earlier attempted to escape the camp and reach Damascus as part of a wider cohort of 34 women and children, or 11 families, in February.
That attempt failed after Syrian government authorities did not allow them to enter the capital, forcing them to return to Al-Roj camp.
At least one member of the larger cohort is subject to a temporary exclusion order, which could lead to them being banned from re-entering Australia for up to two years over security concerns.
The Albanese government has denied assisting the IS-linked group. It has pointed to the right of citizens under Australian law to be issued emergency passports, when scrutinised over the cohort’s ability to travel home.
“We’re not helping them return,” Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek told Seven’s Sunrise on Monday.
“If they do make it to Australia’s borders, we’ll apply Australian law.
“If people have broken the law overseas, they’ll face the full force of Australian law … all of our information is coming from our security and intelligence agencies.
“We very much respect the advice that would be given by them.”
But the Coalition has repeatedly urged the government to intervene and stop the group from returning to Australia.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien told the Today Show he wasn’t convinced by the government’s public statements on the issue.
“I don’t believe the government’s line that they’re not facilitating this. They’re getting third parties to do the heavy lifting,” he said.
“They’ve outsourced it. They’ve basically given it to someone else to do.
“Australians really need to have their own way of life protected.
“And I don’t believe that having these adults come back into Australia secures our way of life.”
In February, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor went as far as to describe the Australian children in the larger cohort as terrorist “sympathisers” because of their mothers’ decision to marry Islamic State fighters.
More to come
Originally published as Australian families linked to the Islamic State secure flights home, reports
