Four women and 13 children have touched down in Australia after fleeing war-torn Syria
The families of those who travelled to fight for Islamic State have been repatriated to Australia.
Around 60 Australians are believed to have landed in New South Wales, after spending years in Syrian detention camps.
The women and children are related to either dead or jailed Islamic State militants.
They had been living in the al-Hol and Roj detention centres in Syria, which the United Nations had previously described as having torturous conditions.
The women reportedly agreed to terrorism control mechanisms upon their return to Australia.
It follows criticism from Australia’s Shadow Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews, who said the scheme was “inexcusable”.
“I am concerned about what will be put in place to make sure that these women and children are not in a position that they will cause any risk at all to Australian people,” she said.
The United Nations believes over 300,000 civilians have been killed in the conflict since 2011. This figure equates to around 1.5 per cent of Syria’s pre-war population.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the repatriation mission followed strict protocols but he did not provide any additional information.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the government had considered a “security, community and welfare factors”, before any decisions were made.
“The decision to repatriate these women and their children was informed by individual assessments following detailed work by national security agencies.”
CLARE O’NEIL, AUSTRALIA’s HOME AFFAIRS MINISTER
The U.S, Italy, and the Netherlands are among other nations who have offered similar programs.
Australia had previously repatriated its citizens from Syria in 2019 under then Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Sophie McNeill from Human Rights Watch welcomed the government’s decision.
“For years, the Australian government had abandoned its nationals to horrific conditions in locked camps in northeast Syria where they were at risk to life and limb and lacked sufficient food, clean water, medical care and education,”
SOPHIE MCNEILL, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Human Rights Watch said the Australian Government should also provide rehabilitation for all returnees, and bring home other Australians in similar conditions.
