Two Australian states prepare to resettle children from Syrian detention camp with most bound for Melbourne | Australian security and counter-terrorism
Authorities in two Australian states are preparing to resettle children returning from squalid detention camps and lives under Islamic State rule, as at least some of their mothers face possible criminal charges.
Four women and nine children are expected to return to Australia on Thursday, apart from a mother and her child who will go to Melbourne.
Australian federal police said on Wednesday that some women would be arrested and charged, while support would be provided to the children.
Save the Children Australia CEO Mat Tinkler said this was exactly the scenario advocated since the collapse of the so-called caliphate in 2019, which led to the detention of 34 Australian groups in camps in north-east Syria.
“We need to focus on what happens to these women when they come, and that’s what we heard from the AFP commissioner today, and we also need to focus on giving these children the space to recover, to survive, to thrive,” Tinkler told the ABC.
“Two-thirds of this group we are talking about in Syria consists of children.
“There has been so much focus on women and the choices they may have made, but we need to focus on these children and give them the chance to continue a normal life in Australia.”
The return of other women and children, and the fact that other Western nations have also successfully reintegrated their citizens, means “the temperature needs to be completely turned down” regarding the group, Tinkler said.
There have been unconfirmed reports from Syria that evacuations of the camps have recently begun, raising the possibility of other Australian citizens returning home.
Home secretary Tony Burke insisted the government had not provided any assistance to the group.
Australian citizens cannot be legally prevented from returning to the country unless a formal exclusion order is in place. Burke issued a single order to prevent a woman in Syria from returning, based on Asio’s advice regarding the national security risk.
None of the returning group is affected by this decision.
The group returning to Australia includes children born in detention camps following the fall of the Islamic State, a woman formerly married to a notorious terrorist recruiter and others who insist they only went to the Middle East to do aid work.
11 of them are members of the same family and are expected to settle in Melbourne.
The other two are a woman and her child who are expected to settle in Sydney.
Planning the group’s return
Victoria police commissioner Mike Bush said he expected his officers to play a “significant role” in monitoring any group returning to Melbourne and free to live in the community.
The official, who said AFP is leading the investigation, said another pair of women who returned to Melbourne with their four children in October were still being monitored.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan said “anyone who breaks the law will face the full force of the law”.
“Children will be asked to undertake programs to combat violent extremism. This is appropriate.”
On Wednesday morning, the government was alerted to the planned departure of a group of 13 people who left Roj last month and went to Damascus. They all have Australian passports.
Behind-the-scenes planning for the band’s return has been ongoing for 10 years, including a community liaison team working with affected local communities.
New South Wales police minister Yasmin Catley told parliament on Wednesday that NSW police were “working closely” with the AFP.
“The NSW government and NSW police will have a role similar to what they have previously done with returning brides of foreign fighters and their children,” he said.
“I reassure people that if anyone has committed a crime, they will face the full force of the law.”
Asio chief executive Mike Burgess said advice about the group had been given to police forces. “The government understands our assessed risk,” he said.
“It’s up to them what they do when they get here. If they start showing signs of concern, we and the police will take action through our joint counter-terrorism teams.
“Their return does not interest me immediately, but they will attract our attention, as you would expect.”
Despite Burgess’ comments, shadow home secretary Jonathon Duniam claimed the government was “actively failing to protect” Australians from a security risk.
The group began its second attempt to reach Australia last month after a much larger group was turned away by Syrian authorities in February. Syrian authorities were taking the group to Damascus amid international pressure on countries to take back foreign fighters trapped in the camp.
The US has forced countries, including Australia, to repatriate citizens who had traveled to the Middle East to join ISIS’s caliphate, but the issue has dogged subsequent governments.
Under Albanese, Labor had backed bringing families home as recently as 2022, but policies on the group’s return have changed dramatically since the Bondi beach shootings in December.
Albanese refused to help in any way, saying the adults had “made their bed” and should face the consequences of their actions.
– Benita Kolovos and Penry Buckley contributed to this story
