As efforts continue to repatriate Australian family members of IS fighters living in the Al-Hol and Roj camps in Syria, there are “mixed reactions” among the cohort over how they will be received once they set foot in the country.
Khaled Ibrahim is a Member of the Department of External Relations in the Autonomous Kurdish Administration that oversees the camps.
He told SBS Kurdish that he’s come across individuals from this group who are fearful that they will be detained when they reach Australia.
“These women have a mixed reaction about the repatriation, some are happy, some are in fear of returning to Australia not knowing what the future will hold for them, whether they be detained, tried and what reaction would the Australian public have towards them,” he said.
The comments come after a report by The Australian, that a secret ASIO repatriation mission has pinpointed 42 women and 16 children as being eligible for repatriation.
Members of this group have been living in refugee camps for more than three years following the fall of the IS in March 2019.
Some of the women say they were tricked, coerced or taken to Syria against their will by their husbands, who have since died.
Khaled Ibrahim, Member of the Department of External Relations in the Autonomous Administration in Northeast Syria. Credit: SBS
In early October, federal opposition leader Peter Dutton called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to explain the government’s intentions and whether security agencies would receive additional funding.
“If you’re going to bring in dozens more of those cases of people who potentially pose a threat in our country, we need to understand how it is with limited resources ASIO and the Australian Federal Police can provide the guarantees to keep the Australian public safe,” Mr Dutton said.
Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, said it was important the women and children received counselling upon their arrival.
"We have about 40 Australian kids living in one of the most dangerous places on earth in a refugee camp," she told the Seven Network.
"Some of the women, the mothers, were taken there as little more than children themselves and married off to [Islamic State] fighters. Some of them were tricked, some of them were forced to go there."
She said there would be an expectation that security organisations would stay in contact and monitor those repatriated.
When asked about how those repatriated will be processed, a spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil told SBS Kurdish: “The Albanese Government’s overriding priority is the protection of Australians and Australia’s national interests, informed by national security advice."
"Given the sensitive nature of the matters involved, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
According to Mr Ibrahim, it is impossible to know exactly how many Australians will be repatriated.
“The number to be repatriated is not known yet as negotiations are ongoing on a daily basis on how, where, and how many are to be returned to Australia.
“It depends on the camps’ situation, whether the women want to return or not. Some are still missing, some are unidentifiable, hence we are not sure of the number even though there are reports in Australia and elsewhere that there are 20 women and 40 children which is not correct.
“We will not know until a couple of days prior to the repatriation.”
In the camps, the cohort has limited access to clean drinking water, poor hygiene, insufficient medical care and counselling, lack of schooling, and poor nutrition.
The repatriation efforts come after the United Nations' special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, said the government had an "unequivocal international obligation" to bring these women and children home.
Mr Ibrahim said he has been involved in the repatriation of 1000 children and 500 women to their home countries over the past three years.
In the absence of IDs, he said DNA tests have been employed to ensure the women and children seeking Australian repatriation were nationals of that country.
