Thirteen Australians in Syria with links to Islamic State have made plans to travel to Australia, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has revealed.
The group includes four women and nine children who have been stranded in a camp in northern Syria, as this masthead revealed last week.
Burke said that Australia’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies had been preparing for their return since 2014 “and have long-standing plans in place to manage and monitor them”.
“The government has not and will not provide any assistance to this group, which consists of four women and nine children,” Burke said in a statement.
“These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation. As we have said many times – any members of this cohort who have committed crimes can expect to face the full force of the law.”
Speaking at a press conference in Canberra, Burke stressed that the government is “not assisting and will not assist these individuals”.
“They made an appalling, disgraceful decision [to travel to Syria],” he said.
“If any of these individuals find their way back to Australia, if they have committed crimes, they can expect to face the full force of the law.”
This masthead reported in April that the group of 13 women and children linked to the Islamic State who have been attempting to return to Australia have plane tickets to Australia and hoped to depart Damascus within the next few days.
The group has been held in the camps since the fall of the so-called caliphate and the death or capture of their husbands and fathers, who allegedly fought for Islamic State.
More to come
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Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X, Facebook or email.
Brittany Busch is a federal politics reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
