The Australian government will not support the repatriation of the 11 “ISIS brides” and their 23 children, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced recently.
“My mother would have said if you make your bed, you lie in it,” Mr Albanese told the ABC. “These are people who went overseas supporting Islamic State and went there to provide support for people who basically want a caliphate.”
Plans for their journey back to Australia from a detention centre at al-Roj in northeastern Syria were blocked earlier this month by Syrian authorities because of the security situation.
The 34 are all Australian citizens – the spouses, widows and children of jailed or deceased ISIS militants. The ABC managed to cobble together sketchy profiles of the 11 women. They range in age from their 20s to over 50. Some claim that they were trapped there after the border with Türkiye was closed.
According to reports they all have documentation which will permit them to enter Australia. Nonetheless, Minister for Immigration Tony Burke has slapped a temporary exclusion order on one unnamed woman. She will not be permitted to enter Australia for two years while the government studies her case.
As in the UK, the US, Norway, Denmark and other countries, repatriation of camp residents is an incendiary issue.
Herald-Sun columnist Andrew Bolt opined that they must reject ISIS ideology before being allowed back into Australia. On the other hand, letter-writers to the Sydney Morning Herald insisted on “the rule of law and the presumption of innocence.”
From a humanitarian perspective, the living conditions at al-Roj are harsh.
According to a special rapporteur for the UN Human Rights Council, Fionnuala Ni Aolain, conditions in the camp where they are being held, al-Roj, in northeastern Syria, near the Iraqi border, are difficult.
When she visited in 2023, she found that the camp’s residents had limited access to water, healthcare, and education. Many of the women could not speak Arabic and could not communicate with health workers. Nearly all suffered from asthma due to the dust from nearby oil fields.
From a security perspective, repatriation could be risky. According to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, “IS ideology persists in the camp, and younger residents remain particularly vulnerable to indoctrination”.
However, Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA) contends that it is simply unchristian to deny the 34 their right to return to Australia.
“These women are mothers, daughters, and sisters who, even if they have made grave mistakes, remain deserving of our compassion and mercy – especially the children who have been caught up in the conflict,” says CSSA CEO Dr Jerry Nockles.
“To deny them the opportunity for redemption is to deny the very essence of our Catholic tradition.”
“As Lent begins, we are reminded that Christianity is not merely performative but a matter of deep conviction. We are called to break our hearts, not tear our clothes. We must open our hearts to those on the margins, because hardened hearts are cold hearts, and cold hearts are uncompromising hearts.”
Melkite Bishop Robert Rabbat was more reserved about welcoming the women and their children back.
“The presumption of innocence should always prevail, in order not to lose our essence as Australians, while abiding by the commandment of our Lord: ‘Be docile like a dove, but wise like a snake,’” he told The Catholic Weekly.
“Hence, a thorough and proper investigation, even if lengthy, should be done, ie separating the wheat from the chaff, those who are legally Australians from those who are not, prior to bringing back the women and children living in camps in Syria to Australia. The return should also be conditional.
“Finally, a proper welcoming process should be also put in place in Australia prior to their arrival, in order to help them fully and properly reintegrate rightly into society.”
In any case, legally, even if the Albanese government does not support the return of the 34 – when and if they are permitted to leave al-Roj – it cannot stop them.
“The constitutional law relating to this issue has only been settled in the last few years,” Professor Patrick Keyzer, of Australian Catholic University, told The Catholic Weekly in an email.
“The High Court has said that the exile of a citizen is punitive in character, and can only be ordered by a court. So if these women and children are citizens of Australia, they have a right of return.”
