Woman in Syrian detention camp banned from returning to Australia for up to two years | Tony Burke
An adult from a group of 34 Australian women and children in a detention camp in Syria has been issued with a temporary exclusion order banning them from coming to Australia for up to two years.
However, the remainder of the group were not assessed by intelligence agencies to meet the threshold to be banned from Australia; This could potentially pave the way for wives and children of Islamic State fighters to re-enter the country if they can make their own way.
Facing another day of pressure on the families of killed or captured ISIS fighters, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese continued to argue that his government had done nothing to help or repatriate them. Asked about reports that the group had been granted passports by the government, Albanese insisted it was merely an “enforcement of Australian law”.
“We are not providing any assistance to these people and we will not be providing any assistance to these people, but we will not be breaking Australian law,” he told a press conference.
On Monday night, 34 Australian women and children left 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.
nine newspapers reported a worker He claimed to have seen Australian passports in the group’s possession at the El Roj camp.
Guardian Australia reported on Tuesday that home secretary Tony Burke had sought advice from security agencies on whether anyone would be subject to a temporary exclusion order (TEO). The order could apply to Australian citizens if the minister “reasonably suspects” that such an order would prevent an act of terrorism or support a terrorist group.
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Burke confirmed that one TEO had been issued but others in the group had not been evaluated for meeting the required threshold. It did not specify the age or gender of the person subject to the exclusion order, but Guardian Australia understands it applies to an adult.
“I can confirm that one person in this cohort has been issued with an Interim Exclusion Order on the advice of security agencies. At this stage security agencies have not advised that other members of the cohort meet the legal thresholds for provisional exclusion orders,” he said.
Shadow home secretary Jonno Duniam questioned the decision to give only one person a TEO.
“If the Minister claims there is only one of these [cohort] “If it is deemed risky enough to warrant an Interim Exclusion Order, this raises more questions than answers,” he said.
“These [group] all traveled to the same ‘declared area’ for the same reason, such as supporting the same listed terrorist organisation; How come only one member of this group is considered a risk and the rest are somehow OK?”
In an interview with Sky News, Duniam suggested TEOs should be equalized against the entire group and said the opposition would support changing the laws to lower the threshold for imposing an exclusion order.
Donald Rothwell, professor of international law at the Australian National University, expressed concern about the children of the woman subject to the exclusion order, stating that the children would either have to travel in the care of other women in the group or remain with their mother.
He also noted that the exclusion order could jeopardize the women’s ability to travel outside of Syria, including to the camp, which could jeopardize the ability to rescind the TEO in the future.
In his statement, Burke said that Sydney doctor Dr., who was alleged to have helped the group in media reports. He said he was unaware of Jamal Rifi’s movements. Burke said he had only seen information in media reports. He said Rifi had not discussed any travel plans with him and “had no reason to do so.”
The Guardian made attempts to contact Rifi.
Asked earlier in the day whether exclusion orders would be enforced against the group, Albanese said the government had received security advice and would “do all we can to keep Australians safe within the law”.
“We will implement the law to the fullest extent we can,” he said.
“These people, I said yesterday, you make your bed, you sleep in it. These are people who choose to go abroad to align themselves with the ideology of the caliphate, which is a brutal, reactionary ideology that aims to undermine and destroy our way of life. So we will not and will not do anything to help these people or to return to their country.”
Albanese admitted it was “unfortunate” that children were caught with this condition, but added: “It’s not their decision, it’s their parent’s or mother’s decision.”
Asked about reports that the group had Australian passports, Albanese said: “What is happening is the application of Australian law.”
