The federal opposition says the ‘softly, softly’ approach needs to change as the government defends their stance on the return of the so-called ISIS brides group from Syria.
Legislation has been proposed by the coalition that would make it a criminal offence to assist the return of terrorist sympathisers, and Health Minister Mark Butler was forced to clarify the government’s position as the group tries to return to Australia.
“Well, we’re managing this situation in very strict accordance with the passport laws that the former government put in place when they were in office that governed the return of 40 people, not women and fighters,” Mr Butler said on Today on Monday.
Sign up to The Nightly’s newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.
“And we’re not providing any assistance or any support to these people, and that’s the approach we’ll continue to take.
When pressed on whether federal agencies had been asked to assist the group of women and children relocate, Mr Butler said there was no effort to assist them.
“There isn’t any support for these people to move from where they are back to Australia,” Mr Butler said.
“At the end of the day, these people took a bad decision to go and assist the most horrific death cults we’ve seen in our generation.
“As the Prime Minister said, they made that bed, and they have to lie in it as far as we’re concerned, re assistance for them to come back.
The government says that if the group somehow finds a way to return to Australia, they will be met by authorities on arrival.
“If they make their own way back, they’ll be met with the full force of the law at the airport,” Mr Butler said.
“And, of course, our security agencies are monitoring their movements very closely,, and if they do manage to get back to Australian borders under their own steam, it is very clear they will be met with the full force of the law.
“They made the appalling decision to move themselves and in some cases, their children, to assist this appalling death cult.
“Obviously we’ve got security agencies working very closely on this case.”
The coalition has announced their intention to change the methods of handling past repatriations of women and children linked to Islamic State won’t be enough to deal with a cohort looking to return to Australia AAP reports..
Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonathon Duniam said conditions imposed on previous citizens with links to Islamic State would not be adequate for the current cohort.
In 2022, four women and 11 children were returned to Australia, while eight orphaned children were repatriated from Syria in 2019 under the then-coalition government.
“Bringing people back into Australia with a softly, softly approach, which is the one this government is taking, is not in our national interest,” Senator Duniam said on Sunday.
“With those who have been repatriated, who have faced prosecution in the past, the best we got was a good-behaviour bond for 25 months.
“These are people that went to Syria to support a death cult. A good-behaviour bond does not strike me as a strong response or something that will keep people safe.”
The coalition has called for laws to be strengthened to stop the cohort from accessing Australian passports.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said intelligence agencies were monitoring any potential risks the group posed to Australia.
“We know the different individuals, we know the state of mind and effective ideology of different individuals,” he said.
“Our agencies have been following them for a long time.”
