Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government will not repatriate from Syria a group of 34 women and children with alleged ties to the Islamic State group
It was an offense under Australian law to travel to the former Islamic State stronghold of al-Raqqa province without a legitimate reason from 2014 to 2017. The maximum penalty was 10 years in prison.
“It’s unfortunate that children are impacted by this as well, but we are not providing any support. And if anyone does manage to find their way back to Australia, then they’ll face the full force of the law, if any laws have been broken,” Albanese added.
The last group of Australians to be repatriated from Syrian camps arrived in Sydney in October 2022.
They were four mothers, former partners of Islamic State supporters, and 13 children.
Australian officials had assessed the group as the most vulnerable among 60 Australian women and children held in Roj camp, the government said at the time.
Eight offspring of two slain Australian Islamic State fighters were repatriated from Syria in 2019 by the conservative government that preceded Albanese’s center-left Labor Party administration.
The issue of Islamic State supporters resurfaced in Australia after the killings of 15 people at a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14. The attackers were allegedly inspired by
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