Photos have emerged of several Australian ISIS brides and their children preparing to leave a detention camp in northeast Syria as they begin the process of heading home.
On Monday Syrian news outlets reported the families, comprising of at least 24 individuals, would soon depart Roj Camp for the capital Damascus, where they would be met by relatives.
The West Australian understands there are actually 34 in the group, but 2 of the individuals are subject to exclusion orders that are currently before the Home Affairs Minister which would prevent them from entering Australia.
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Camp officials were quoted as saying no official statement has been issued regarding coordination with the Syrian transitional government or the Global Coalition concerning their repatriation process.
Images published online show several individuals with their faces covered being escorted into vehicles as local journalists attempt to question them on the way out of the camp.
11 Australian ISIS-linked families leaving Roj Camp in northeastern Syria. Credit: unknown/North Press Agency
The Albanese government would not confirm if the group had been issued with Australian passports, but a spokesperson insisted it “is not and will not repatriate people from Syria.” “Our security agencies have been monitoring – and continue to monitor – the situation in Syria to ensure they are prepared for any Australians seeking to return to Australia,” the spokesperson told The West Australian.
11 Australian ISIS-linked families leaving Roj Camp in northeastern Syria. Credit: unknown/North Press Agency
It was reported on Monday night that the convoy of women and children attempting to return to Australia was turned around and forced back to Roj Camp because of a lack of approvals to cross from territory still held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to the Syrian government side.
In September last year another cohort of ISIS linked families, consisting of two women and four children, arrived in Australia from Lebanon, with the Department of Home Affairs stating they had known about their plans since June.
11 Australian ISIS-linked families leaving Roj Camp in northeastern Syria. Credit: unknown/North Press Agency
Dozens of Australian women and children who had travelled to the Middle East were left stranded in the Middle East after being detained following the collapse of the self-proclaimed Islamic State “caliphate” in 2019.
That year the Morrison government repatriated eight orphans and one newborn baby, before Labor brought back four Australian women and their 13 children in 2022 under former home affairs minister Clare O’Neil, prompting criticism.
