Australia will not repatriate 34 girls and youngsters from Syria : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F41%2F0a%2F05a486a240fe9b68382c2f848cda%2Fap26047393958050.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F41%2F0a%2F05a486a240fe9b68382c2f848cda%2Fap26047393958050.jpg" class="img" alt="Family members of suspected Islamic State militants who are Australian nationals sit in a van heading to the airport in Damascus during the first repatriation operation of the year, at Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Thirty-four Australian citizens from 11 families departed the camp. " fetchpriority="high"/> Members of the family of suspected Islamic State militants who're Australian nationals sit in a van heading to the airport in Damascus throughout the first repatriation operation of the 12 months, at Roj Camp in japanese Syria, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Thirty-four Australian residents from 11 households departed the camp. Baderkhan Ahmad/AP cover caption

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Baderkhan Ahmad/AP MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian authorities is not going to repatriate from Syria a gaggle of 34 girls and youngsters with alleged ties to the Islamic State group, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese mentioned Tuesday.

The ladies and youngsters from 11 households had been speculated to fly from the Syrian capital Damascus to Australia however Syrian authorities on Monday turned them again to Roj camp in northeast Syria due to procedural issues, officers mentioned.

Solely two teams of Australians have been repatriated with authorities assist from Syrian camps because the fall of the Islamic State group in 2019. Different Australians have additionally returned with out authorities help.

Albanese wouldn't touch upon a report that the newest girls and youngsters had Australian passports.

"We're offering completely no assist and we aren't repatriating individuals," Albanese instructed Australian Broadcasting Corp. in Melbourne.

"We now have no sympathy, frankly, for individuals who traveled abroad in an effort to take part in what was an try to ascertain a caliphate to undermine, destroy, our lifestyle. And so, as my mom would say, 'You make your mattress, you lie in it,'" Albanese added.

Albanese famous that the kid welfare-focused worldwide charity Save the Kids had failed to ascertain in Australia's courts that the Australian authorities had a accountability to repatriate residents from Syrian camps.

After the federal court docket dominated within the authorities's favor in 2024, Save the Kids Australia chief government Mat Tinkler argued the federal government had an ethical, if not authorized, obligation to repatriate households.

Albanese mentioned if the newest group made their solution to Australia with out authorities assist, they could possibly be charged.

It was an offense underneath Australian regulation to journey to the previous Islamic State stronghold of al-Raqqa province with no reliable motive from 2014 to 2017. The utmost penalty was 10 years in jail.

"It is unlucky that youngsters are impacted by this as nicely, however we aren't offering any assist. And if anybody does handle to search out their approach again to Australia, then they will face the total power of the regulation, if any legal guidelines have been damaged," Albanese added.

The final group of Australians to be repatriated from Syrian camps arrived in Sydney in October 2022.

They had been 4 moms, former companions of Islamic State supporters, and 13 youngsters.

Australian officers had assessed the group as probably the most susceptible amongst 60 Australian girls and youngsters held in Roj camp, the federal government mentioned on the time.

Eight offspring of two slain Australian Islamic State fighters had been repatriated from Syria in 2019 by the conservative authorities that preceded Albanese's center-left Labor Social gathering administration.

The problem of Islamic State supporters resurfaced in Australia after the killings of 15 individuals at a Jewish competition at Bondi Seashore on Dec. 14. The attackers had been allegedly impressed by IS.