Women and children return to Australia after years stranded in Syria

A group of Australians believed to be the wives and children of Islamic State fighters who spent years stranded in Syria have managed to quietly return to Australia.

The women went to Syria and Iraq during the rule of the terrorist group Islamic State, which controlled large parts of both countries between 2013 and 2019.

After leaving Syria, the group of six arrived in Beirut and was detained by Lebanese authorities as they did not have valid visas or legitimate entry records, the federal government has confirmed.

The opposition said it was “gravely concerned ... that half a dozen ISIS brides and their children have secretly returned to Australia”.

Members of the group were issued passports after being processed by Lebanese authorities, the government said.

Australian citizens are entitled to passports if they meet eligibility requirements.

The government also said it had been monitoring the women and children in Syria “for some time”, and that it anticipated some people would try to return unaided.

It said agencies had been preparing to ensure Australians were safe if and when this happened.

“The Australian government is not providing assistance and is not repatriating individuals in Syrian [internally displaced people] camps,” a government spokesman said in relation to the group.

“If any of those people find their own way to return, our security agencies are satisfied that they are prepared and will be able to act in the interests of community safety.

“Our agencies have been monitoring these individuals for some time. We have confidence in our agencies.

“Owing to our privacy obligations, we are unable to provide further comment. The safety of Australians and the protection of Australia’s national interests remains the government’s overriding priority.”

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is yet to comment on the new information.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and acting opposition home affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said in a statement: “This is a highly dangerous cohort of individuals who associated themselves with the barbaric Islamic State regime.

“The government must come clean: either they knew about this cohort returning and hid it from the Australian public, or worse, family members of Islamic State terrorists returned to Australia without the government’s knowledge.

“This is nothing short of a dereliction of duty by the Albanese Labor government. These are people who willingly travelled to a war zone and aligned themselves with one of the most barbaric terrorist organisations in history.”

In 2019, at a time when the then-Coalition federal government was saying it was too dangerous to head into Syria to repatriate Australians in the IDP camps, this masthead’s Michael Bachelard and Kate Geraghty walked into al-Hawl camp and spoke with Australians there.

The group of hungry, scared women from Sydney and Melbourne told the reporter and photographer that there were too few guards, that food was scarce and that shootouts had occurred within the camp.

In September, the government denied reports that more than a dozen women, children and young men were set to be evacuated from Al Roj camp in Syria to be brought to NSW and Victoria before Christmas in a secret operation.

Save the Children Australia CEO Mat Tinkler said his organisation had long advocated for the government to safely repatriate the Australians still stuck in Syria.

“Every child deserves a life free of violence and fear. As conditions in the camps worsen and the region grows more unstable, we hold serious concerns for the wellbeing of the innocent children who remain there,” Tinkler said.

“We call on Australian authorities to provide all returnees with comprehensive support for reintegration, something Australia has proven it can do safely and successfully, as with the two previous repatriations in 2019 and 2022.”

A civil war that began in Syria in 2011 degenerated into a messy and multifaceted conflict.

Syria’s long-term president, Bashar al-Assad, was ousted by rebel troops in December 2024. The country is set to hold an indirect vote on Sunday to establish its first parliament since Assad.

“Our travel advice continues to advise Australians do not travel to Syria due to the dangerous security situation and threat of armed conflict, airstrikes, terrorism, arbitrary detention and kidnapping – as it has been since these Australians travelled there,” the federal government said on Friday.

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