Key Points
- A secret ASIO mission into Syria has reportedly cleared the way for the families to be repatriated to Australia
- The families have been held in detention for three-and-a-half years following the fall of Islamic State in March 2019.
Dozens of Australian women and children living in Syria's detention camps are set to be repatriated, but an expert has warned against programs to "deradicalise" them.
Clarke Jones, a criminologist at the Australian National University, has worked for two years on a plan to safely return the family members of self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) fighters who are stuck in the Al-Hol and Roj camps in Syria.
They've been detained 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.
The Australian newspaper reported on Monday that a secret ASIO mission has cleared the way for the 42 women and 16 children to be repatriated to Australia.
Dr Jones warned that terms such as "deradicalisation" in programs are not only misleading but can be harmful in an approach to giving appropriate mental health and family support.
"The worst thing we can do is put an intensive model or deradicalisation model. That doesn't bring them home," he said.
"We don't want people to be violent in our community, and that's the real crux of the thing we need to be concerned about, not these terms 'radicalisation'."
Dr Jones said assuming every woman and child has reacted to their experiences the same way is "highly flawed", and is in full cooperation with the government to ensure the right care is provided.
"To say that they're going to go through a fixed solution or fixed program is ludicrous because we don't exactly know what their needs will be," he said.
“I think we'd be naive to say that there is no risk whatsoever, as some of the women and children have been exposed over a prolonged period of time to those sorts of conditions. We do understand that there's going to be some risk, but we don't know the extent of that.”
Al-Hol is the larger of two Kurdish-run displacement camps for relatives of IS members in Syria's northeast, where some Australian women and children are held. Source: Getty / AFP / Delil Souleiman
"[The plan] is actually relying on the Muslim communities to provide a strong support base for their return is really our focus," Dr Jones said.
He said, in his conversations with family members, the women understand their actions overseas will be investigated and they could be charged if they have broken Australia's terrorism laws.
The model designed for use with the families is already being used in Morocco, Belgium and France. In July, France repatriated 51 women and children from the camps. A month earlier, Belgium repatriated 16 of their nationals.
Dr Jones said the affected families had approved the proposal and he had approached the government with the plan.
The proposal was worked up alongside Kammalle Dabboussy, whose daughter Mariam and three grandchildren are stuck in Al-Hol camps.
Dr Jones said while the government has not notified him of its repatriation plan, it would be an "incredibly exciting prospect".
Mr Dabboussy said "it’s every parent’s wish to ensure their children are safe."
"The families just want to welcome them home and would happily co-operate with all levels of government to make that happen," Mr Dabboussy said.
A spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said any decision on repatriation is informed by national security advice.
"Given the sensitive nature of the matters involved, it would not be appropriate to comment further," the spokesperson said in a statement to SBS News.
'Unnecessary risk, enormous cost'
The federal Opposition has remained resolutely against bringing the Australian women and children back from detention camps in Syria.
Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Karen Andrews said she didn't approve such a mission when she was the relevant minister in government due to concerns about radicalisation and the dangers posed to Australian officials sent to Syria.
"There was always a very strong view women, in particular, went there by choice ... and they were complicit, generally, in the role they were expected to play ... to support ISIS and foreign fighters," she told the ABC.
Ms Andrews said bringing them back "posed an unnecessary risk and enormous cost" to have these people in the community.
"I've seen nothing to alter my view."
Federal Labor MP Tanya Plibersek said it was important the women and children receive 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."
The Labor minister said there would be an expectation that security organisations would stay in contact and monitor those repatriated.
The government's repatriation move comes after the United Nations' special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights Fionnuala Ní Aoláin said the government has an "unequivocal international obligation" to bring these women and children home.
