final cohort leave Syria on their way to Australia
Updated ,first published
After being trapped in camps in Syria for more than seven years, 19 Australian women and children with links to the Islamic State were quietly processed at Sydney and Melbourne airports and allowed to rejoin society without being charged.
The video, shot by a News Corporation photographer at Melbourne airport, shows Abraham Abbas, the brother of alleged ISIS bride Kawsar Abbas, pushing the camera into Edwards’ face as he takes a photo of the returned woman, Kirsty Rosse-Emile, and her two children.
This is the second time Melbourne-based family members of ISIS returnees have been involved in a row with the media, following another row on May 7 when a group of women arrived.
Joint NSW and Victoria counter-terrorism teams said in a statement that the women and children “were subjected to a range of operational interventions, including searches of their belongings and the removal of their devices for investigative purposes”.
“No one from this group has been charged, but investigations into the activities of Australians who traveled to Syria (including those who have since returned) are ongoing.
“Police and JCTTs will continue to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure community safety is maintained.”
Government sources, whose names could not be given because they were not authorized to speak, said that some of the women may be charged in the coming days. When the previous group arrived on May 7, they were arrested at the airport and taken away by police.
The planes carrying seven women and 12 children arrived from Damascus to Melbourne via Doha at 16.30 on Tuesday and to Sydney at 17.30.
In Sydney, NSW Police told waiting journalists the women were given the option of leaving the airport or exiting through the public entrance, with assistance from the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.
All the women preferred silence and were released from the airport before 20:00 in the evening.
In Melbourne, Australian Federal Police told reporters that about two hours after the women and children arrived, they were processed and escorted out a side door rather than the usual arrival door where media would wait. Melbourne Airport said the operation was being carried out by the Australian Border Force and had been approached for comment.
The kid-glove treatment by authorities is a tacit admission that they mishandled the return of women and children on May 7, which saw wild scenes including airport arrests, private security guards and a serious brawl in Melbourne.
Sources close to the returning families say these events traumatized the children, who were already vulnerable after growing up in the camps for seven years.
The return of this group marks the first time all Australians, so-called “ISIS brides”, have been outside Syria since the end of the so-called Islamic State caliphate in March 2019, except for one woman, Hodan Abby, who is subject to an interim exclusion order, and her child.
Among the women returning to Sydney were Nesrine Zahab, who was 21 when she claimed she was tricked into going to Syria by her cousin and ISIS recruiter Mohammed Zahab; Muhammad’s wife Aminah Zahab and Muhammad’s sister Sumaya Zahab.
Hyam Raad, about whom little is known, is the fourth woman to return to Sydney.
Two more women, accompanied by seven children, landed in Melbourne.
They are Kawsar Kanj, about whom little is known, and Kirsty Rosse-Emile, the daughter of two former Christians who converted to Islam when she was nine. Kirsty’s sister Krystle told the ABC in February that Kirsty married a much older man, who was a friend of her father, at the age of 14. Krystle said her sister was getting ready to go to Syria.
Australian citizens left the al-Roj camp in north-east Syria late last week on a trip organized and financed by family members. Among them was a young woman who had just turned 18 and was the daughter of one of the so-called “ISIS brides.”
Abby and her nine-year-old daughter, who required medical treatment for a series of shrapnel wounds, were not allowed to board the plane in Damascus. They had tickets to Sydney but the airline turned them away because the Albanian government had issued a two-year temporary restraining order against the mother.
Abby chose to keep her child with her, even though her daughter had serious medical problems stemming from shrapnel wounds she received as a baby.
The child has shrapnel in his head, neck and hip, making it difficult for him to walk and causing delays in his speech and development, as the imprint reported in 2021.
Sources close to the family group but who did not want to speak publicly said the child needed medical care and suffered ongoing physical disabilities. Abby also has a piece of shrapnel in her chest.
Australian government sources said they would not provide consular assistance to Abby and her child.
Sources close to the families confirmed that Abby will challenge the leave in federal court, but that application has not yet been filed. There are also options to apply for a return permit. Lawyers for the family group declined to comment.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said during questioning that he had “nothing but contempt for anyone who sympathizes with ISIS”. He added that the government had not provided any assistance and that they would “face the full force of the law to the extent possible on the advice of security agencies”.
Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam told the ABC the government was “going from actually controlling who comes into our country and making decisions about who they want to let in and who they want to keep out, to outsourcing those jobs”.
“These self-directed returns… That’s not what they’re supposed to be doing, and these people pose huge risks as we know.”
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke reiterated in a statement earlier on Tuesday that the Australian government “has not and will not provide any assistance to this group”.
“Our world-class law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been preparing for their return since 2014, and we have long-standing plans to manage and monitor them,” he said.
He made no comment about the group’s arrival.
Earlier this month a group of women from camps in Australia, four of them three, were quickly arrested, some on slavery charges. Their return sparked chaotic scenes at Melbourne Airport.
Abby, the woman left behind, fled her home in Sydney’s west with a friend when she was 18 and entered Syria in 2015 in the hope of becoming a jihadist bride. Young women told their families that they were going on vacation. Abby’s friend was killed in Syria in 2015.
The expulsion decision will be valid for two years unless the court overturns the decision or the minister grants permission for return.
A dismissal order was made on the advice of ASIO and on the narrow grounds of fear of a terrorist attack. This decision can be challenged on narrower grounds, such as the Minister acting outside his remit or that ASIO’s assessment was legally flawed.
Save the Children Australia chief executive Mat Tinkler said on Tuesday that the safety and welfare of returning children, who make up two-thirds of the group, should be the priority.
“The political debate surrounding their future in Australia has been deeply disappointing,” Tinkler said.
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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.
Mostafa Rachwani is a Parramatta reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously a Community Affairs correspondent for Guardian Australia.Connect via email.
Angus Delaney is a reporter for The Age. Email him at angus.delaney@theage.com.au or contact him securely on Signal at angusdelaney.31.Connect via email.
