Authorities in Victoria and New South Wales are preparing to resettle children returning from squalid detention camps in Syria, as some of their mothers face possible criminal charges. Four women and nine children are expected to arrive in Australia on Thursday, with all but a mother and her child bound for Melbourne.
One of the women told the ABC that Australia seemed “like paradise” after years in camps in Syria’s northeast. “We just want our children to be safe. It was like hell [in Syria] for them,” she said. Another noted that one boy has an Australian accent despite never having been to Australia.
Australian Federal Police confirmed that some women would be arrested and charged, while support would be provided for the children. Mat Tinkler, CEO of Save the Children Australia, urged focus on the children’s recovery, noting that two-thirds of the cohort in Syria are children. He said the “temperature should be dialled right down” given successful reintegration elsewhere.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke insisted the government provided no assistance to the group. Australian citizens cannot be prevented from returning unless a formal exclusion order is in place; Burke has issued one such order based on national security advice. The cohort includes children born in camps after the fall of Islamic State, a woman formerly married to a recruiter, and others who say they travelled for aid work.
Eleven of the returnees are from the same family and expected to settle in Melbourne, while the other two will go to Sydney. Victorian Police Commissioner Mike Bush said officers would play a “significant part” in monitoring those free in the community. Premier Jacinta Allan stated that anyone who broke the law would face its full force, and children would undertake countering violent extremism programs.
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley confirmed NSW police were working with the AFP, assuring that offenders would face the law. ASIO Director General Mike Burgess said advice had been provided to policing agencies, and the government understood the assessed risk.
