Australia rules out repatriation for families linked to ISIS

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reiterated that the federal government will not repatriate families with links to Islamic State (IS) fighters, declaring, “If you make your bed, you lie in it.”

The comments follow the attempted return of a group of 34 Australians, including 11 women and 23 children, from the Al-Roj camp in north-eastern Syria. The group planned to travel to Australia via Damascus but were forced to turn back after Syrian authorities said their journey had not been properly coordinated. It remains unclear whether they will attempt to return again in the coming days, ABC News reports.

Albanese emphasized that while Australian officials have legal obligations, the government will not provide the families with “any assistance or repatriation.”

“These are people who went overseas supporting Islamic State and went there to provide support for people who basically want a caliphate. My mother would have said, if you make your bed, you lie in it.”

The group is among dozens of Australians, primarily women married to IS fighters, who have been detained in Syrian camps and prisons since the defeat of the so-called caliphate in 2019. Many of the children were born in Syria, and some women claim they did not choose to travel there.

The issue has drawn opposition scrutiny. Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson argued that adults linked to IS should be barred from returning. “The most important task of any government is to keep Australians safe. And if these are people who subscribed to ISIS ideology, then they should not be returning to Australia,” she said. Henderson suggested temporary exclusion orders (TEOs) as a tool to block entry for Australians deemed a security threat.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed that the government is assessing whether TEO thresholds have been met, stating, “We will always act in accordance with advice from our law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies.”

The director of the Al-Roj camp, Hakmiyeh Ibrahim, has called on foreign governments to repatriate citizens, warning that children in the camp are growing up amid “dangerous ideas and ideologies” and could benefit from rehabilitation programs.

Albanese acknowledged the plight of the children but reaffirmed the government’s position: “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.”

By Vafa Guliyeva