IS-linked women and children book return to Australia

8 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 6

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said four women and nine children from al-Roj camp booked flights, and AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said some would be arrested on arrival.
Canberra said it gave no assistance, but had monitored the cohort for years; those not detained will remain under investigation, while returning children will enter integration, therapeutic and anti-extremism programmes.
The 13 are part of a wider group of 34, mostly children, stranded in northern Syria since 2019; Australia has resisted formal repatriation and earlier barred one member under a temporary exclusion order.

Are returning IS families a grave security threat or a humanitarian crisis Australia must finally confront?

As youth radicalization surges online, is leaving citizens in Syrian camps creating a greater long-term security threat?