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In Brief:
- Four Australian families have left a camp in Syria in a renewed attempt to return home.
- The families’ departure was reportedly organised in co-ordination with the Syrian government in Damascus.
In a fresh effort to bring their citizens back home, four Australian families have recently departed from a Syrian camp known for housing individuals linked to the Islamic State group. These families are making their way towards Australia, according to official reports.
Witnessed by journalists from the Associated Press, a group comprising 13 women and children was seen leaving the Roj camp, a secluded site near the Iraq border. This camp is primarily used to accommodate relatives of those suspected of being IS militants. Their exit was facilitated by a Syrian government delegation that provided transportation and security.
Lana Hussein, an official with the Women’s Protection Units of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, confirmed that this relocation was organized in collaboration with the central government in Damascus. The Syrian Democratic Forces are responsible for maintaining security at the camp.
According to Hussein, the families are scheduled to stay in Damascus for approximately 72 hours before being “deported under security procedures” to ensure their safe return to Australia.
At this time, officials from both the Syrian foreign ministry and the Australian government have not offered any public remarks regarding the situation.
A previous attempt to return 34 women and children to Australia from the camp in February was aborted after being turned back by Syrian authorities.
Australian authorities at the time said they would not repatriate the families, and the Albanese government later issued a temporary exclusion order banning one of the women from returning.
It was not immediately clear if there had been co-ordination with the Australian government before the new attempt on Friday.
Roj camp is in an area of northeast Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, but the Australians had planned to fly out of Damascus.
Camp officials said at the time that the planned repatriations were organised by family members of the returnees rather than directly by Australian authorities.
Former IS fighters from multiple countries, their wives and children, were held in a network of camps and detention centres 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 both Syria and Iraq.
The larger al-Hol camp has now been closed down, while thousands of suspected IS militants previously held in Syria were transferred to Iraq by the US military to stand trial there.
The moves came after fighting broke out between government forces and the SDF in January. Government forces seized much of the territory formerly held by the SDF. Amid the chaos and clashes, many detainees fled al Hol and some prisoners escaped from a detention centre.
Australian governments have repatriated Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions. Other Australians have also returned without government assistance.
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