19 Australians – Two flights carrying 19 Australian women and children linked to the Islamic State group landed in Melbourne and Sydney, despite warnings that returnees could face charges. The government said it would not assist the group, while Home Affairs Minister Tony Burk
On a Tuesday morning in Australia, two planes carrying 19 Australian women and children linked to the Islamic State group arrived in Melbourne and Sydney, even as the government warned they could face charges.
The Australian government had already confirmed that seven women and 12 children were heading home on Qatar Airways flights. The timing came less than three weeks after a group of 13 people in similar situations returned to Australia’s two largest cities.
Two women with seven children flew to Melbourne. Four women with six children landed about an hour later in Sydney, news media reported.
It was not immediately apparent whether any arrests were made at the airports.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government would not help the group and that anyone who has committed crimes “can expect to face the full force of the law.” In a statement. Burke said. “The government has not and will not provide any assistance to this group.” He added that the returnees are people who made “the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation.” Burke also said Australian law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been preparing for their return since 2014 and that there are long-standing plans to manage and monitor those arriving.
“The priority of the government, as always, is the safety of the Australian community,” Burke said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, earlier in the process, told Parliament he has “nothing but contempt for anyone who has any sympathy for ISIS,” referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria by its acronym.
The latest arrivals followed a prior return that has already produced criminal charges. Three of the four women on the earlier flights were charged with slavery and terrorism offenses and remain behind bars.
While the flights came back to Australia, at least two Australians remained in Roj camp, a location in northeast Syria near the Iraq border where people linked to IS have been held since IS forces in the Middle East were defeated in 2019.
One of those people is a mother who had been prevented from returning to Australia in February by a temporary exclusion order. She did not travel with the group. The woman, aged around 29, remained at Roj with her daughter, who had been disabled by shrapnel wounds, The Australian newspaper reported.
That report also said she left her Sydney home at the age of 18 in 2015 to marry an IS fighter in Syria. Her family has since engaged a Sydney lawyer to challenge the order, which would bar her from Australia until February 2028.
Exclusion orders were created by laws introduced in 2019 to prevent defeated IS fighters from returning to Australia for up to two years.
The last Australian cohort returned from Syria on May 7, similarly without government help. Australian governments have repatriated Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions, while other Australians have returned quietly without government assistance.
The question of how Australia handles returnees is not theoretical. because prosecutions and arrests have already taken place during earlier arrivals. Kawsar Ahmed. also known as Kawsar Abbas. 53. and her daughter Zeinab Ahmed. 31. were arrested when they landed in Melbourne over allegations that their family had bought a female Yazidi slave. In Sydney. Janai Safar. 32. was arrested at Sydney Airport when she arrived with her 9-year-old son. charged with being a member of a terrorist organization and with entering or remaining in a region controlled by a terrorist organization.
Australia Melbourne Sydney ISIS Islamic State Qatar Airways Tony Burke Anthony Albanese Roj camp exclusion order terrorism charges Yazidi slave
Why are they even letting them land here?
So they came home on Qatar Airways?? Like ok but don’t they have to be charged? I swear the government just says “full force of the law” every time and then nothing happens.
I don’t get it, if they’re linked to ISIS why would they be allowed back without like immediate arrests at the airport. Also “19 Australians” sounds small but those headlines always make it sound bigger. Somebody’s gonna complain about “kids” but the whole thing is messed up.
Australians coming back less than 3 weeks after the last group… that’s gotta be planned, right? Like since 2014 they “prepared” so where’s the proof they actually did anything? I feel like they’ll monitor them but still won’t charge anyone, and meanwhile people will say “contempt” or whatever and move on. Also it’s weird it’s women and kids—like does that automatically mean less trouble? Not to be dramatic but… just seems backwards.