Australia will not repatriate its citizens with ties to Islamic State, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed in an interview with ABC on Tuesday, telling families stranded in Syria, “If you make your bed, you lie in it.”
The announcement follows reports that 34 Australian women and children attempting to leave the Al-Roj detention camp in northeastern Syria were turned back by Syrian authorities after trying to return to Australia via Damascus. Temporary Australian passports had reportedly been issued to some of the families, but the transfer failed, and they were returned to the camp.
Albanese emphasized that the government is providing no support for these individuals and will not facilitate their return, citing national security concerns. “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, destroy our way of life,” he said.
Pressure has been growing on countries including Australia, the US, and the UK to repatriate thousands of women and children detained in camps since the fall of the Islamic State Caliphate over five years ago. Human rights organizations have repeatedly warned of systematic abuses in these camps, including torture, gender-based violence, and forced disappearance.
Australia has previously repatriated small groups of women and children from Syria in 2019 and 2022, but officials have stressed that this cohort will not receive assistance. Save the Children Australia urged the government to reconsider, highlighting the plight of children who have lost years of their childhood and deserve safety and reintegration.
The situation in northern Syria has been further complicated by the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2024, with the new Syrian government pushing Kurdish-led forces out of detention camp areas. UN experts continue to call on nations to urgently repatriate and rehabilitate foreign nationals in detention while ensuring accountability and respect for international law.
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