Tony Burke ‘taking advice’ from security agencies about Australian women and children in Syria seeking to return | Australian security and counter-terrorism

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is “taking advice” from security agencies on whether to temporarily ban the return of Australian women and children in a Syrian detention camp, but it is unclear how many people from the group such an order would apply to.

On Monday night, 34 Australian women and children – wives, widows and children of dead or imprisoned Islamic State fighters – left the al-Roj camp in north-east Syria after being released by Kurdish authorities, where they were expected to be returned to Australia.

However, a camp official told Agence France-Presse that they were forced to return due to “poor coordination between their relatives and the Damascus government”. The Guardian understands their repatriation was not organized by the Australian government and it is unclear whether the group had travel documents.

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Anthony Albanese has repeatedly promised that the Australian government will not assist in the repatriation of the group, but has acknowledged that government officials have an “obligation” to issue passports to citizens and has previously said citizens have the right to return.

But a spokesman for Burke said on Tuesday that the government “consistently receives advice from our agencies on whether the threshold for Interim Expulsion Orders is met.”

“We will always act in accordance with the advice of our law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies,” the spokesman said.

Temporary exclusion orders are envisaged under counter-terrorism legislation, which would allow the home secretary to issue an order to prevent a non-Australian from entering the country for up to two years.

The bar for such an order to be carried out is very high; A TEO can only be made if the minister “reasonably suspects” that such an order would prevent an act of terrorism, prevent training from or receiving training from a listed terrorist group, support a terrorist act or terrorist group, or if the person is assessed by the Australian Security Intelligence Agency to be a “security risk” of politically motivated violence.

A TEO can only apply to someone over the age of 14, and an order issued to a person between the ages of 14 and 17 requires additional security measures.

It is unclear how many of the 34 cohorts these conditions will apply to.

Speaking of a separate group of Australians returning from Syria in October 2025, Albanese said the government had not assisted that group either, but added: “Australian citizens of course have the right to enter Australia.”

Liberal senator and former shadow home affairs minister under Sussan Ley, Jonno Duniam, suggested TEOs be imposed as the group tracks their Islamic State fighter husbands to Syria, demanding the government do “everything to prevent these people from re-entering Australia while they pose a risk”.

“These are people who are part of a group that wants to attack our way of life and pose a very serious risk to our society,” Duniam said.

“Issuing TEOs, with every possible safeguard in place to protect law-abiding Australians from the risk of any harm this group of people may inflict on society, is the least this government should do. Anything less would be a failure.”

Greens senator David Shoebridge called on the government to help women and children, saying some of them are as young as six years old and many are victims of the Islamic State.

“The government’s primary responsibility is to protect Australian citizens and, most importantly, children. It is disgusting that Albanese is using this moment to endanger children and is doing his best to give the impression of One Nation. Children should not be held responsible for the actions of their parents,” he said.

Albanese on Tuesday defended the government’s decision not to help the current group of 34 women and children return to Australia.

“My mother used to say if you make your bed, you sleep in it. These are people who go abroad to support the Islamic State and basically go there to provide support to people who want the caliphate,” he told the ABC.

“We will not send them back. In fact, the government was taken to court by one of the non-governmental organizations, saying that we had a responsibility and they were not successful in this.”

Asked if it was “unfortunate” for the children caught up in the situation, Albanese said yes but did not back down from his post.

“We have a very firm view that we will not be providing assistance or repatriation. Of course Australian laws apply and there are obligations that Australian authorities have, but we also want to make it clear to those involved that they will face the full force of Australian law if there is any breach of the law,” he said.

“Our security agencies have been and continue to monitor the situation in Syria to ensure they are prepared for Australians wishing to return to Australia.”

Families of the women who returned said they did not know about the plan and were not clear why it was not successful.

One father told Guardian Australia he only knew about the issue because of news from Syria late on Monday night.

– Additional reporting from Nino Bucci