Australia has ruled out helping Australian women and children linked to Islamic State militants leave a Syrian detention camp, as the government warns returnees could face prosecution for any crimes committed abroad.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told ABC News on Tuesday that his government “won’t be providing assistance or repatriation” to Australians held in the Roj camp in northern Syria.
“We have no sympathy, frankly, for people who travelled overseas in order to participate in what was an attempt to establish a caliphate to undermine and destroy our way of life,” Albanese added.
A spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke emphasized that Australian security agencies are monitoring the situation, warning that those who have committed crimes will face “the full force of the law” if they return.
34 Australians remain in Roj Camp
On Monday, 34 Australians—women and children—were released from the Kurdish-controlled Roj detention camp, only to be returned for “technical reasons,” according to sources.
The group, which includes relatives of IS militants, is expected to travel to Damascus before potentially returning to Australia, despite strong objections from the ruling government and opposition lawmakers.
Roj camp director Hakmiyeh Ibrahim told Al Jazeera that the women and children from 11 families were handed over to relatives who had come from Australia to collect them.
Islamic State is a listed terrorist organization in Australia, with membership punishable by up to 25 years in prison. The government also has the authority to strip dual nationals of citizenship if they were IS members.
The Home Affairs spokesperson reinforced that anyone returning with links to IS would face prosecution if they had committed crimes abroad.
Political fallout and rise of right-wing populism
The return of IS-affiliated relatives has fueled a political debate in Australia, boosting the popularity of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party, which opposes immigration and is skeptical of returning IS members.
Hanson told Sky News that extremist sympathizers “hate Westerners” and questioned how to identify “good Muslims,” comments which were criticized within her party.
A recent poll shows One Nation at a record 26% support, surpassing the combined traditional center-right coalition.
Liberal Party Senator Sarah Henderson echoed the government’s security stance, stating that Australians who subscribed to IS ideology should be barred from returning to the country.
Security and Regional Context
The situation comes amid ongoing monitoring by Australian security agencies, who continue to track Australians with IS links. While the government has allowed relatives to remain abroad, it maintains a firm position that returnees could face legal action if implicated in terrorism-related offenses.
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