Bring these children home, PM. They did not make their own beds
The uncertainty facing 34 Australian women and children this week as they left the hell of Al Roj camp in north-east Syria is deeply disturbing. In recent weeks, we have seen the collapse of the system of arbitrary detention that the Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the US-led Global Coalition Against ISIS, has implemented for almost seven years in Northeast Syria.
The nearby Al Hol camp, which housed more than 40,000 women and children, essentially disappeared overnight. All the arguments put forward for almost a decade to justify indefinite detention without trial in conditions that meet the standard of torture in international law have turned out to be paper thin. In the Al Roj camp, which is still under SDF control, conditions are poor and the future is bleak.
Australian women and children live in makeshift tents in freezing cold winter conditions, deprived of the most basic needs for a dignified life. Conditions in Al Roj have reportedly worsened since the large-scale withdrawal of the SDF and the ceasefire agreement with the interim Syrian government. Violence, oppression, theft and extreme mental distress are reflected in the lives of those detained here. The region remains unstable and insecure.
Al Roj, which Fionnuala visited several years ago, is a place where even camp officials acknowledge that the safety risk of women and children is low and that most should never have been detained. At the mercy of an armed group in a civil war, there was no legal process to detain them and no court to protect them. A few months ago, UN Women published a report that confirmed what most of us already knew.
Many women, including some Australians, have arrived in Syria through complex and often challenging routes. Some were victims of grooming and human trafficking. Others were caught under the control of men and families determined to leave and lacked the strength or economic capacity to say no. Those who go voluntarily, those who play a role in the Islamic State, and those who put their children at risk must be dealt with with the full force of the law.
Life for Australian children in camps is cruel and unforgiving. Of the group trying to return, 23, or two-thirds, are children. They didn’t choose to be there. They did not make their beds and sleep there, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese falsely claimed this week.
They are now treated as complicit in terrorism because of who fathered them, who gave birth to them, and where they were born. In Australia, we do not subject children to arbitrary detention and torture simply because of crimes their parents are alleged to have committed. No Australian child in Syria should be treated differently. No child deserves this fate. They become victims of terrorism, violence and abuse. Every Australian child deserves the full protection of Australian authorities.
The Syrian, Iraqi and American governments, Australia’s partners in the fight against terrorism, have repeatedly asked countries like Australia to honor their obligations and bring women and children back home. If Australia wants to support the political transition in Syria after the infamous Assad regime, it must bring its citizens home. If Australia wants to fulfill its obligations as a good security partner, it must bring its citizens home. If Australia wants to champion children’s rights and partner in global efforts to stop the trafficking and oppression of women, it must bring its citizens home.
Making these most vulnerable women and children more victims of violence does not make Australia safer or more secure. This demonstrates a lack of compassion, responsibility and obligation to both security and human rights.
Under Australian and international law, Australian citizens have the right to return home. It is not Syria’s responsibility to manage Australians stranded in Syria without legal immigration status indefinitely. The group already has Australian passports and is ready to travel.
Any security risks posed by individuals can be effectively addressed by Australia’s comprehensive counter-terrorism laws, including criminal prosecution, control orders, restrictions and surveillance following their return under temporary exclusion orders.
Australian authorities had been aware of the detained Australians for many years and undoubtedly carried out extensive investigations. There is no real reason to continue excluding them from Australia for greater control. They’re not trying to sneak into Australia unnoticed. While government temporary restraining orders are available, they only prolong the problem and do not solve it. No other country is obliged to accept Australian citizens of no other nationality. Now is the time to resolve this saga.
The experience of many countries that have repatriated their citizens, including men, is that rehabilitation and reintegration can be carried out successfully so that the returnees can thrive and become full members of society. This also applies to Australians who returned under previous Coalition and Labor governments. Children will need counseling to address the trauma they have experienced, intensive education to make up for the school they missed, and other support to overcome their lost childhood and obstacles to their development.
Australia can now show leadership on human rights and security by making a humanitarian decision to allow their return. The administrative obstacles experienced on the Syrian side this week can be easily resolved. We call on Australia to urgently bring these Australian women and children home, not only to protect the human rights of its own children and citizens, but also to be a responsible international security partner.
Fionnuala Ni Aolain is a commissioner at the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Ben Saul is the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the fight against terrorism.
Fionnuala Ni Aolain is a commissioner at the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.
Ben Saul is Challis Head of International Law at the University of Sydney.
