Australian women and children leave Syrian camp hoping to return home

A group of alleged ISIS brides and their children left a camp in northern Syria today, hoping to return to Australia after a failed repatriation attempt earlier this year.

Four women and nine children have been granted passports by the federal government before leaving the squalid conditions in Syria’s Al-Roj camp for what they hope will be the last time.

The camp’s coordinator, Lana Hussein, said there is a security procedure that lasts up to 72 hours before they are deported.

Less than three months ago, the entire group of 34 Australian citizens in the camp tried to get home, but their escape was foiled by Syrian government forces.

It looks like they’ve overcome that hurdle this time.

“The coordination was perfect,” Al-Roj camp director Hakmiyeh Ibrahim told the ABC through an interpreter.

“It happened between us and the Syrian government to be able to fly these families back to their country.”

The Australian government is required to issue passports to its citizens.

This group is no exception, but the government says aid to bring them back has stopped there.

“The Australian government is not repatriating these people from Syria,” Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said.

Only one of the women who lived in the Syrian camp has been temporarily banned from entering Australia.

No other exclusion orders have been issued.

“Tony Burke himself has said, ‘We don’t want them here,’” Interior Minister Jonno Duniam said.

“You’re in government, you can do something about it.”

When the Islamic State group withdrew in 2019, families linked to the fighters were taken to dilapidated camps.

The move was something their children had no choice in.

The departure of this group leaves another 11 Australian women and children in Al-Roj.

The camp says there are no plans yet for their return.

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