final cohort leave Syria on their way to Australia
Updated ,first published
19 Australian women and children linked to Islamic State have landed in Australia after being trapped in camps in Syria for more than seven years and are expected to be allowed to leave quietly from airports in both Melbourne and Sydney.
None of them were arrested, but government sources, who could not be named because they were not authorized to speak, said some of the women could be charged in the coming days.
The planes carrying seven women and 12 children arrived from Damascus to Melbourne via Doha at 16.30 and to Sydney at 17.30.
In Sydney, NSW Police told waiting journalists there would be no arrests and the women were given the option of leaving the airport or exiting through the public entrance with the assistance of the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.
All women preferred silence.
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, a move arranged by family members.
The group was allowed to leave through an external gate that led directly to the airport’s lounges, rather than the usual arrival gate where media would wait. News Corporation photographer Jason Edwards said “guards” pushed his camera and hit him in the face as he ran to photograph the women.
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 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 means that, with the exception of Hodan Abby, a woman subject to an interim exclusion order, and her child, all Australians named ISIS brides have been outside Syria for the first time since the end of the so-called Islamic State caliphate in March 2019.
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 the Federal courts, 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.
