Overview
- Four Australian women and nine children linked to Islamic State are in Damascus with tickets reportedly booked to fly to Australia within days, though the plans could still be blocked during transit.
- Government ministers say they are not assisting the return and security agencies are tracking the group, with officials warning any offences will bring the full force of Australian law on arrival.
- The cohort left the al‑Roj detention camp after about seven years and this is their second attempt to return, following a February effort that Syrian authorities halted about 50 kilometres into the journey.
- Authorities have used existing tools for risk management, including a Temporary Exclusion Order that can delay a citizen’s return for up to two years and earlier issuance of emergency passports to some in the broader cohort.
- The issue has become a political flashpoint as the prime minister condemned the mothers’ “evil choices,” the opposition urged broader exclusions, the US pressed for repatriations in a February letter, and legal experts noted Australians generally retain a right to return with prosecutions used where evidence allows.