A group of 34 Australian wives, widows and children of jailed or dead ISIS fighters have attempted to leave Syria, where they have been held for seven years.
The group was turned back by Syrian authorities early in their journey, and the Australian Government has refused to assist in their return.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “We have a very firm view that we won’t be providing assistance or repatriation”.
Here’s what you need to know.
About ISIS
Australia has listed ISIS (also known as IS or Daesh) as a terrorist organisation since 2005.
The group occupied one-third of Syria from 2014 to 2017, forming a ‘Caliphate’ governed under a fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law.
The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) says ISIS “does not represent Islam or the Muslim world in any way”.
Australians
ISIS lost all of its territory by 2019, and many of its fighters and their families were placed in detention camps across Syria, Libya, and Iraq.
This included dozens of Australian citizens.
In 2022, the Federal Government repatriated four Australian women, dubbed ‘ISIS brides’, and their 13 children from a Syrian camp.
Upon their arrival, the women told media they were “willing to do whatever is asked of us by government authorities”.
At least 34 Australians remain in the camps, the majority of whom are children.
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In 2023, Save the Children Australia (STCA) took the Federal Government to court, requesting the Home Affairs Minister repatriate this group.
The non-profit lost the case, with the court determining Australia does not have to repatriate the women and children because it does not control the circumstances of their detention.
Update
This week, multiple media outlets reported a group of 34 women and children attempted to return to Australia.
Around 50km into their journey from Al-Roj, a detention camp in north-east Syria, the group was told to go back.
In 2024, Amnesty International reported people held at Al-Roj are “unlawfully” and “indefinitely” detained, experiencing inhumane conditions and torture, including beatings, electric shocks, and gender-based violence.
The Sydney Morning Herald spoke with a camp official, who said the group’s departure to the capital, Damascus, had been “postponed”.
The unsuccessful attempt was put down to Syrian Government permissions.
The Federal Government and STCA confirmed to the Herald they were not involved with the attempted return.
Response
Albanese told ABC News Breakfast on Tuesday: “The Government was taken to court by [STCA] saying we had a responsibility and they weren’t successful in that.”
“These people went overseas supporting [ISIS] and went there [to] provide support for people who basically want a caliphate,” he added.
Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson told ABC Radio: “Anyone who shares ISIS ideology... they should not be returning to Australia.”
