Overview
- MPs moved to prioritise an Opposition bill that would make it illegal to assist Australian citizens seeking to leave declared terrorist areas without government permission.
- Opposition Leader Angus Taylor labelled the 34-person cohort “ISIS sympathisers” and urged shutting the door to their return, declining to exclude the children from that description.
- Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government provided no assistance for any repatriation and argued passports were issued as a legal obligation to citizens.
- At least one woman in the group is under a Temporary Exclusion Order, and Coalition figures questioned why TEOs have not been applied to some Australians aged 14 to 17.
- The 11 women and 23 children remain at Syria’s Al Roj camp after a February attempt to leave was blocked at a checkpoint, with Dr Jamal Rifi assisting on the ground and criticizing political rhetoric as an obstacle.