Australians in Syria: Passports Confirmed, One Woman Temporarily Banned from Return
Reports have emerged confirming that Australian citizens currently in Syria, with alleged connections to the militant Islamic State group, possess Australian passports. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has acknowledged these developments, revealing that one woman has been subjected to a temporary exclusion order, preventing her immediate return to Australia.
The situation involves a group of 34 Australians – comprising 11 women and 23 children – who were reportedly planning to travel from Damascus to Australia on a Monday. However, their departure was halted due to unspecified procedural issues. Minister Burke indicated that the process to issue the temporary exclusion order commenced on the same Monday, following intelligence suggesting that this group, often referred to as “ISIS brides,” had departed the Roj detention camp with the intention of returning home.
Minister Burke elaborated on the expediency of such orders, stating that the Department of Home Affairs works diligently to prepare them in advance. “Effectively, because the clock starts ticking on these sorts of exclusion orders, the work gets done by the department in advance,” he explained. “But once reports start to come that somebody might be moving, that’s the time that you initiate those sorts of orders.”
Temporary exclusion orders allow the Minister to prevent high-risk citizens from re-entering Australia for a period of up to two years. The order was not enacted earlier to prevent it from lapsing. The woman affected by the current order is an immigrant who reportedly left Australia for Syria between 2013 and 2015. While Minister Burke did not confirm if she had children, he placed significant blame on the parents for the dire circumstances faced by their offspring stranded in Syria. “These are horrific situations that have been brought on those children by actions of their parents,” he asserted. “They are terrible situations. But they have been brought on entirely by horrific decisions that their parents made.”
These legislative measures were introduced in 2019 with the primary aim of preventing former Islamic State fighters from returning to Australian soil. There have been no prior public reports of such exclusion orders being issued. Minister Burke also confirmed that security agencies had not recommended exclusion orders for any other individuals within the group, and importantly, such orders cannot be applied to children under the age of 14.
Opposition’s Stance on Risk Assessment
The opposition’s home affairs spokesperson, Senator Jonno Duniam, has expressed a desire for all women in the group to be banned from returning. He questioned the Minister’s assessment, stating, “If the minister is claiming that only one of the 34 strong ISIS bride cohort is deemed risky enough to warrant a temporary exclusion order, then this raises more questions than answers.” Senator Duniam highlighted the shared circumstances of the group, noting, “These ISIS Brides all travelled to the same ‘declared area’ for the same reason of supporting the same listed terrorist organisation – how can only one member of this group be deemed a risk and the rest somehow okay?”
Confirmation of Australian Passports
When pressed by host Sarah Ferguson on the matter of passports, Minister Burke indirectly confirmed reports that the 34 individuals held Australian passports. He stated, “anyone who’s a citizen is able to apply for a passport and receive a passport.” When asked directly if he was aware of them possessing these documents, he replied, “Yeah I do and I think I’m giving the very practical answer that if somebody applies, if anyone applies for a passport as a citizen, they are issued with a passport.” He drew a parallel to other government services, saying, “In the same way, in the same way that public servants, if someone applies for a Medicare card, they get a Medicare card.” He maintained his chosen phrasing when Ferguson suggested it was a roundabout way of saying yes, confirming, “I’ve given the answer with the words I wanted to.”
Conditions at Roj Camp and Family Involvement
At the Roj camp, situated in the northeastern corner of Syria near the Iraqi border, the Australian women involved declined to speak with journalists. One woman, Zeinab Ahmad, indicated they had been advised by legal counsel not to engage with the media. A camp security official, Chavrê Rojava, described the detainees as Australians of Lebanese origin and stated that their family members had travelled to Syria to facilitate their return. Rojava added that these families had provided temporary passports for the intended returnees.
“We have no contact with the Australian government regarding this matter, as we are not part of the process,” Rojava explained. “We have left it to the families to resolve.” She further recounted that upon the group’s departure from the camp en route to Damascus, a Syrian government official had contacted them, urging them to turn back. The families were reportedly “very disappointed” upon the group’s return to the camp. Rojava concluded by stating, “We recently requested that all countries and families come and take back their citizens.”
Prime Minister’s Firm Stance on Repatriation
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reiterated the government’s position that it will not assist in the repatriation of this particular group. “These are people who chose to go overseas to align themselves with an ideology which is the caliphate, which is a brutal, reactionary ideology and that seeks to undermine and destroy our way of life,” Albanese told reporters. He was referencing the former IS territorial control that once spanned Syria and Iraq, attracting foreign fighters who subsequently established families and raised children in the region.
The Prime Minister emphasised, “We are doing nothing to repatriate or to assist these people. I think it’s unfortunate that children are caught up in this, that’s not their decision, but it’s the decision of their parents or their mother.”
Since the Islamic State lost its territorial control in Syria in 2019, former fighters, their spouses, and children have been held in detention camps. Despite their defeat, the group continues to operate through sleeper cells, conducting attacks in Syria and Iraq.
Australian authorities have facilitated the repatriation of Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two previous occasions. It is also noted that some Australians have managed to return without government assistance.
