A group of ISIS brides have been blocked from returning to Australia after they were turned away from Syria’s international airport.
The group of 13 women and children, who have links to Islamic State fighters, were on their way to Damascus International Airport in Syria on Thursday after being booked on flights back to Australia.
However, their vehicle was turned around after Syria’s foreign ministry was informed that ‘the Australian government had refused to receive’ the group.
‘These families are still awaiting a solution, which can only be achieved through coordination with the relevant international parties,’ Syria’s information ministry said.
The four women and nine children had left the Al-Roj internment camp in Syria’s northeast after finally securing tickets for a flight home.
Individuals within the 34-strong group had attempted to leave the camp before, however, their efforts have been futile.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a news conference on Wednesday that ‘we are providing no support for repatriation and no assistance for these people.’
At a separate news conference in Beijing, Foreign Minister Penny Wong on that her government has made ‘very clear that we are not assisting in their repatriation.’
The group of 13 women and children were travelling to the airport when they were turned round
Syria’s foreign ministry was informed ‘the Australian government had refused to receive them’
As the news emerged on Thursday of the ISIS brides’ failed bid to return home, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke reaffirmed the government’s position.
‘We will not repatriate these individuals with assistance. These individuals, whether they choose to return, as citizens, can attempt to come back to Australia on their own, without any support from the Australian Government,’ he told reporters.
‘I will leave it to the Australian Federal Police to make announcements, or not make announcements, as they see fit. There is no way I will interfere with anything operational.
‘But I will say this: anyone who has broken the law will face the full force of the law. And I suspect that some of these individuals will be weighing up very carefully whether they ever want to return to Australia.’
A previous attempt to return 34 women and children to Australia from the camp in February was turned back by Syrian authorities.
Former IS fighters from multiple countries, along with their wives and children, were held in a network of camps and detention centers in northeast Syria after the militant group lost control of its territory in Syria in 2019.
Though defeated, the group still has sleeper cells that carry out deadly attacks in Syria and Iraq.
