Australia will not facilitate the return of its citizens with links to Islamic State (IS), Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated on Tuesday, delivering a stark message to 34 Australian women and children stranded in Syria: “If you make your bed, you lie in it.”
The Prime Minister’s comments followed reports that the group, held in a Syrian detention camp, attempted to travel to Australia via Damascus but were turned back by Syrian authorities after leaving the Al-Roj camp in northeastern Syria. The families had begun their journey on Monday, hoping to reach Australia after nearly seven years in detention.
According to the Associated Press, the 11 families were stopped approximately 50 kilometers from the Al-Roj camp, with Syrian officials citing incomplete departure procedures as the reason for their return. The camp’s director, Hakmiyeh Ibrahim, told the AP that the repatriation effort was organized by family members who had travelled from Australia.
Albanese reiterated the government’s firm stance against providing assistance to those who travelled overseas to support IS. “We won’t repatriate them,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “These are people who went overseas supporting Islamic State and went there to provide support for people who basically want a caliphate.”
The situation has ignited debate regarding the responsibility of nations to repatriate their citizens from Syria, where thousands – primarily women and children – remain in detention camps following the collapse of the IS caliphate more than five years ago. Pressure is mounting on Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries to address the plight of their nationals held in these camps.
Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have repeatedly warned of widespread abuses within the camps, detailing allegations of torture, gender-based violence, forced disappearance, and other atrocities. Many detainees were forcibly trafficked to ISIS or were born into the so-called caliphate, raising complex legal and ethical questions about their culpability and rights.
While some countries have begun the challenging process of repatriation, progress has been slow, hampered by national security concerns and domestic political opposition. Australia has previously repatriated smaller groups of women and children with IS links in 2019 and 2022.
Last year, two Australian women and four children successfully left Syria and returned to Australia independently, travelling via Lebanon without government assistance, according to reporting by the ABC. This recent attempt by the 34 Australians represents a more organized effort, though ultimately unsuccessful.
The Australian government maintains it will not provide support for such returns. A spokesperson stated to CNN that Australia “is not and will not repatriate people from Syria,” adding that security agencies are closely monitoring the situation to prepare for any potential returns. “People in this cohort need to know that if they have committed a crime and if they return to Australia they will be met with the full force of the law,” the spokesperson said.
Save the Children Australia, which previously launched legal action to compel the government to repatriate citizens from Syrian detention camps – a case they lost in 2023 – has urged the government to reconsider its position. “These innocent children have already lost years of their childhood, and deserve the chance to rebuild their lives in safety at home, and to reintegrate into the Australian way of life,” CEO Mat Tinkler said in a statement to CNN.
The evolving political landscape in Syria adds further complexity to the situation. The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in 2024 has created uncertainty within the detention camps, as the Syrian government seeks to reassert control over areas previously held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who fought alongside the US against ISIS. This shift has prompted concerns about the future of detainees and the potential for further instability.
A group of UN experts recently called on over 50 countries to urgently repatriate foreign nationals held in Syrian detention, ensuring accountability and adherence to international law. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported earlier this week that a significant number of residents have left the Al-Hol camp, another major detention facility in Syria, with the Syrian government planning their relocation.
Meanwhile, the United States this week announced the transfer of over 5,700 adult male ISIS fighters from Syrian detention camps to Iraqi custody. This move has drawn criticism from UN experts, who expressed concerns about due process and potential human rights violations within the Iraqi prison system.
The Australian government’s continued refusal to repatriate its citizens underscores the difficult balancing act between national security concerns, humanitarian obligations, and domestic political considerations. The fate of the 34 Australians remains uncertain, caught between a collapsing political order in Syria and a government unwilling to offer assistance.
