SYDNEY —Australia said on Wednesday that a group of 13 Australian women and children in Syria with links to members of the Islamic State group plans to travel home, but will receive no government assistance. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the group booked tickets to return home, but there were “very serious limits” on what authorities could do to prevent Australian citizens re-entering the country. “The government is not assisting and will not assist these individuals. They made an appalling, disgraceful decision,” Burke told reporters, adding the group includes four women and nine children. Burke said any returnee suspected of criminal activity would “face the full force of the law without exception”, though he did not specify potential charges. “These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation,” Burke told the media on Wednesday. Burke said authorities became aware of the group’s return when airline tickets were booked hours earlier. “The alert is received the moment the booking takes place so that was provided to us this morning,” he said. The government had been preparing for the group’s return since 2014, Burke said, with “long-standing plans” to “manage and monitor them”. Australian authorities have been preparing for such returns for more than a decade. Burke said law enforcement and intelligence agencies have maintained contingency plans since 2014 to manage individuals linked to extremist groups. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said some returning Australians could be arrested and charged upon arrival, while others may remain under investigation. The children who return would “undergo community integration programs, therapeutic support and countering violent extremism programs”. Barrett added that for more than a decade, investigators had been collecting evidence on whether anyone in the group had committed “terrorism offenses” as well as “crimes against humanity offenses such as engaging in slave trading”. She did not detail how many in the returning group of 13 would be arrested but confirmed that those who are not arrested would continue to be investigated. Some Australian women traveled to Syria between 2012 and 2016 to join their husbands, who had allegedly become members of the Islamic State. Following the collapse of the IS caliphate in 2019, many were detained in camps while some had returned home, according to Australian media reports. One of the main detention facilities was Al-Hol camp, near the Iraqi border, which held relatives of suspected Islamic State fighters captured during the US-backed campaign against the group. In January, the United States began moving detained IS members out of Syria after the collapse of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which had been guarding around a dozen facilities holding IS fighters and affiliated civilians, including foreigners. By February, fewer than 1,000 families remained at camps in Syria’s northeast that had been used to detain relatives of suspected Islamic State militants. The head of Australia’s spy agency, Mike Burgess, said he was not “concerned immediately” by the group’s return but “they will get our attention as you’d expect”. “It’s up to them what they do when they get here, and if they start to exhibit signs that concern us, we and the police, through the joint counter-terrorism teams, will take action,” Burgess, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) said. Earlier this year, Australia banned one member of the group from returning home for up to two years under a “temporary exclusion order”. Several other foreign governments, including France, the Netherlands, and the UK, have also refused to repatriate most of their citizens still held in Syria.SYDNEY —Australia said on Wednesday that a group of 13 Australian women and children in Syria with links to members of the Islamic State group plans to travel home, but will receive no government assistance. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the group booked tickets to return home, but there were “very serious limits” on what authorities could do to prevent Australian citizens re-entering the country. “The government is not assisting and will not assist these individuals. They made an appalling, disgraceful decision,” Burke told reporters, adding the group includes four women and nine children. Burke said any returnee suspected of criminal activity would “face the full force of the law without exception”, though he did not specify potential charges. “These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation,” Burke told the media on Wednesday. Burke said authorities became aware of the group’s return when airline tickets were booked hours earlier. “The alert is received the moment the booking takes place so that was provided to us this morning,” he said. The government had been preparing for the group’s return since 2014, Burke said, with “long-standing plans” to “manage and monitor them”. Australian authorities have been preparing for such returns for more than a decade. Burke said law enforcement and intelligence agencies have maintained contingency plans since 2014 to manage individuals linked to extremist groups. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said some returning Australians could be arrested and charged upon arrival, while others may remain under investigation. The children who return would “undergo community integration programs, therapeutic support and countering violent extremism programs”. Barrett added that for more than a decade, investigators had been collecting evidence on whether anyone in the group had committed “terrorism offenses” as well as “crimes against humanity offenses such as engaging in slave trading”. She did not detail how many in the returning group of 13 would be arrested but confirmed that those who are not arrested would continue to be investigated. Some Australian women traveled to Syria between 2012 and 2016 to join their husbands, who had allegedly become members of the Islamic State. Following the collapse of the IS caliphate in 2019, many were detained in camps while some had returned home, according to Australian media reports. One of the main detention facilities was Al-Hol camp, near the Iraqi border, which held relatives of suspected Islamic State fighters captured during the US-backed campaign against the group. In January, the United States began moving detained IS members out of Syria after the collapse of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which had been guarding around a dozen facilities holding IS fighters and affiliated civilians, including foreigners. By February, fewer than 1,000 families remained at camps in Syria’s northeast that had been used to detain relatives of suspected Islamic State militants. The head of Australia’s spy agency, Mike Burgess, said he was not “concerned immediately” by the group’s return but “they will get our attention as you’d expect”. “It’s up to them what they do when they get here, and if they start to exhibit signs that concern us, we and the police, through the joint counter-terrorism teams, will take action,” Burgess, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) said. Earlier this year, Australia banned one member of the group from returning home for up to two years under a “temporary exclusion order”. Several other foreign governments, including France, the Netherlands, and the UK, have also refused to repatriate most of their citizens still held in Syria.
Australia says IS-linked citizens in Syria camp could face arrests on return
