Australian blocked from returning over security concerns
Updated ,first published
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke addressed reports that 34 women and children from Syria holding Australian-issued passports seeking to return from a concentration camp in the Middle Eastern country.
Burke was asked several times to confirm the reports in this imprint and did not deny that this was the case; instead of giving a direct yes or no answer, she chose to respond “with the words I wanted.”
“If anyone applies for a passport as a citizen, they are given a passport,” he said. “Similarly, when civil servants apply for a Medicare card, they receive a Medicare card. These are automatic processes carried out by civil servants.”
“It was a long way to say yes,” host Sarah Ferguson replied.
The government has adopted a hard line against the proposed family repatriation plan, insisting its government is not helping families linked to the Islamic State return home, despite Syrian officials confirming overnight that the women and children held Australian-issued passports.
One in 11 women seeking to return to Australia from a concentration camp in Syria has been prevented from doing so under an order aimed at protecting Australians from national security risks.
The decisions would apply to all citizens aged 14 and over, but sources not authorized to speak publicly confirmed that the decision would apply to a woman and not one of the 23 children in the camp. All are Australian citizens.
Home Secretary Tony Burke and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were under pressure from the opposition to use the orders to prevent the repatriation of 34 women and children who had traveled to Syria and lived under the so-called Islamic State caliphate.
In his brief statement, Burke said that the order against the woman was taken on the advice of security agencies.
“At this stage security agencies have not advised that other members of the group meet the legal thresholds for provisional exclusion orders.”
The regime, which was introduced in 2019 with the agreement of Labor during the Morrison government, can prevent people from re-entering Australia for up to two years. Burke may make such a decision if he believes it would prevent an act of terrorism, support an act of terrorism, or if the excluded person is deemed a security risk “for reasons related to politically motivated violence.” Anyone who helps the excluded person return to Australia will also be guilty of an offence.
Burke’s statement did not specify whether this practice would be valid for two years.
The opposition signaled it would step up pressure late on Wednesday, while shadow home affairs and immigration minister Jonno Duniam said the decision “raises more questions than it answers”.
“These ISIS Brides have all traveled to the same ‘declared area’ for the same reason, which is to support the same listed terrorist organisation, how can only one member of this group be considered a risk while the rest are somehow OK?”
This imprint revealed that on Wednesday, the head of the camp who detained 34 women and children confirmed that the families had presented valid passports. Sources with knowledge of the matter but not authorized to speak publicly stated that the passports presented in the Roj camp were “disposable” documents.
Camp boss Hakamia Ibrahim said in an exclusive Arabic interview with this imprint: “We took photographs of the families’ passports and made copies. I personally saw the passports and made copies; this is a security measure.” Authorities in northeastern Syria always require valid travel documents before families can be released from the camp.
This imprint’s requests to see the documents were denied.
Women and children are trying to return to Australia after their ISIS fighter husbands and fathers were imprisoned or killed. They have been living in tents for seven years, since the overthrow of the so-called caliphate in March 2019.
Albanese has denied for months that the government had helped any Australians leave Syria, but granting them passports refutes that narrative. He insists that providing passports and supporting the family-organised repatriation process does not constitute “assistance”.
“What is happening is the application of Australian law,” Albanese told reporters in Tasmania on Wednesday. “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.”
Professor Ben Saul, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, said the prime minister was “completely disingenuous” in claiming the government was not helping women and children even if it was not proactively facilitating their return.
“Of course, this is completely misleading in the sense that giving someone a passport helps them,” the international law expert said. “They’re clearly dodging political bullets here because there’s a pretty toxic climate around terrorism post-Bondi.”
The “family repatriation” was organized by Western Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi, a community supporter of Burke in the Western Sydney electorate.
Rifi, who is in the Middle East to help facilitate the transfer, did not respond to requests for comment. Burke said in his statement that he had not discussed Rifi’s plans with him.
“I have no information about whether Dr Jamal Rifi is in Australia or abroad other than what I have seen in the media. He has not discussed any plans with me and has no reason to do so,” the minister said.
The Passport Act says passports should be issued to “any Australian who meets the eligibility conditions”, senior DFAT officials said in response to questions in parliament this month; these conditions are “citizenship and identity-related requirements”.
However, the families’ passport requests had previously been rejected. Albanese did not answer questions about what had changed recently to make the provision of passports possible.
In northeastern Syria, where the group had to travel to return home, Albanese’s comments come as the Australian government refuses to repatriate the group.
Ibrahim also said it was unclear whether the women would receive permission to travel because they were turned away on the highway and returned to the camp on Monday.
Opposition defense spokesman James Paterson had previously publicly pushed the government to use temporary exclusion orders.
“This could keep an Australian citizen offshore for up to two years so that a case can be built against them and they can then be charged if they choose to return,” Paterson told Sky News.
Albanese said the government had received national security advice on exclusion orders before the order was issued and would “do all we can to keep Australians safe within the law”.
Concerns have been raised about whether the decisions were constitutional, but the question has never been tested in the Supreme Court. UN special rapporteur Saul said women were unlikely to meet the legal threshold for orders.
“Simply pointing out past historical ties to ISIS will certainly not be enough,” said the Challis chair of international law at the University of Sydney.
“You must show that the Minister suspected on reasonable grounds that issuing the order would substantially help prevent a terrorist attack or terrorist training or support of a terrorist act.”
Duniam said the law should be changed if the threshold for implementing the expulsion decision is too high.
“Why don’t you call the opposition? We need to change the laws to protect our country and if that means changing the laws to lower the threshold then let us know because we need to keep Australia safe. Don’t act like it’s all out of your control,” Duniam told Sky News.
Camp director Ibrahim said the families were devastated because efforts to bring them home from the camp had stopped, at least temporarily. “The hopes of women and children were shattered.”
Family advocates say the Australian government has known about the identities, circumstances and activities of this group for more than a decade in some cases, and that they have been thoroughly investigated by the Australian Federal Police and ASIO since their capture and arrest in 2019.
Those extradited in 2019 and 2022 faced minor criminal charges. No convictions were recorded.
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Michael Bachelard is The Age’s senior writer and former deputy editor and research editor. He has worked in Canberra, Melbourne and Jakarta, written two books and won several awards for journalism, including the Gold Walkley.Connect with: X or email.
Brittany Busch is the federal politics correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
