Share and Follow
The federal government knew for months that a cohort of women and children was returning from Syria, with two children having had their Australian citizenship granted.
The revelations, made by the Department of Home Affairs in Senate estimates on Wednesday, come as the federal government affirms it did not repatriate the citizens, who were living at Syria’s violent al-Hol detention camp.
Reports emerged on Friday that six women and children arrived back in Australia after smuggling themselves out of the camp via Lebanon.
For years, the women, often referred to as ‘ISIS brides’, and children had been living in an internally displaced people camp following the 2019 fall of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group. Their husbands have either been jailed or killed while fighting overseas.
Home Affairs secretary Stephanie Foster confirmed on Wednesday that, unlike previous cohorts, the federal government did not assist the Australians with their return.
She said the group — comprised two women and four children — arrived in Australia on 26 September.
Liberal senator James Paterson asked when the government became aware that the individuals intended to return to Australia.
“It was in June this year,” Foster responded, and later revealed she informed Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke after becoming aware of the cohort’s intent to return.
Foster said she could not reveal which Australian state the people were in as she needed to consult with relevant security and law enforcement agencies about “risk sensitivity associated with that knowledge”.
Later, after hours of back-and-forth about the process of their return, Foster revealed that of the four children, two applications for citizenship by descent — lodged online — had been approved.
Eligibility for citizenship by descent extends to those born outside Australia who have at least one parent who was Australian at the time, the Home Affairs website says.
Home Affairs Department secretary Stephanie Foster revealed the department knew that the women and children in Syria intended to return to Australia for months. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
Labor frontbencher Murray Watt, standing in for Burke, said the cohort was being monitored.
“I can assure people that our security agencies are aware of the people of interest who are in this cohort,” he said.
“Our agencies have been monitoring these individuals for some time and our government has confidence in those agencies to keep Australia safe.”
Paterson asked whether the women had committed any terrorism offences, which Watt referred to the security agencies scheduled to appear on Thursday evening.
Home Affairs explained that while the department coordinated activities related to people of interest, “it is the role of intelligence and security agencies to monitor the threats to national security”.
Relevant agencies are expected to face unanswered questions about the location of the individuals and past activity of the women, as well as where the children were born.
Also on Wednesday, Burke reiterated the federal government had not repatriated the six women and children after a question from independent MP Dai Le, who asked whether the federal government would guarantee none of them would be settled in her western Sydney electorate.
“The government is not settling people,” Burke said in Question Time. “What we have is a situation where we have a number of Australian citizens who made a terrible decision … to go off and join others who were involved in what has been described one of the most horrific organisations that the world has seen.”
