Yesterday, Australia returned four women and 13 children after they were held for years in two camps in Syria after the fall of the Islamic State group.
The previous Conservative government declared them a security risk, which led to the repatriation of family members of ISIS fighters being viewed as a politically charged issue in Australia.
There are opportunities to bring these women to justice if it is proven that they were involved in illegal activities in Syria.
Australian Home Secretary Claire O’Neill said the government had considered “a number of factors relating to security, community and welfare”.
“The decision to repatriate these women and their children was made on the basis of individual assessments after lengthy national security efforts,” she added in a statement after the group of 17 arrived in Sydney.
The repatriation of family members of ISIS fighters is a politically charged issue in Australia, where the former Conservative government declared them a security threat.
O’Neill said the women could be prosecuted in Australia if counterterrorism agents decide they were engaged in illegal activities in Syria.
In turn, Sophie McNeil, researcher at Human Rights Watch, commented on the statement, saying that it was “too belated.”
“For years, the Australian government has left its citizens in appalling conditions of detention in camps in northeast Syria,” she added.
She added: “Australia can play a leading role in the fight against terrorism through the organized repatriation of its citizens, most of whom are children who never chose to live under Islamic State rule.”
Australian women and children lived in the Al-Khol and Rozh camps in the Kurdish-controlled areas of northeastern Syria.
