Overview
- On Thursday, May 28, the Australian Federal Police charged a 34‑year‑old Melbourne woman identified in reporting as Rayann El Houli with entering or remaining in a declared conflict zone and membership of a terrorist organisation; she was remanded and a bail application has been filed to allow her to care for her children.
- AFP investigators say the woman travelled to Syria in 2013–14, was detained by Kurdish forces in 2019 and returned to Australia from Lebanon on 26 September 2025 after time in the al‑Hawl camp; she lived in the community for months before being charged and another woman who returned with her remains under investigation.
- Search warrants executed in Broadmeadows and Fitzroy North yielded electronic devices, documents, photographs, a suspected stolen vehicle and a hard drive, and prosecutors say forensic testing, phone intercepts and video analysis are ongoing.
- The charge is part of Operation Kurrajong, the joint AFP‑ASIO‑state police effort that has run since 2015 to investigate Australians who travelled to Syria and Iraq, and follows two May repatriation cohorts where some returnees were arrested for terrorism or crimes‑against‑humanity allegations.
- Authorities warn building admissible cases is difficult because alleged offences occurred in conflict zones, evidence must meet Australian legal standards, and decisions on bail and child welfare will shape how prosecutions and reintegration proceed.