IS families to face arrest and charges on return to Australia

Some of the 13 Australians in Syria with links to Islamic State will be arrested and charged when they return to Australia, Australian Federal Police commissioner Krissy Barrett has revealed.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed on Wednesday that four women and nine children who have been stranded in a camp in northern Syria intend to return to Australia, as this masthead revealed last week.

The women and children are expected to arrive on Thursday evening in Sydney and Melbourne, travelling via Doha.

Sources familiar with the group’s travel plans said one woman, former health science student Janai Safar, and her child are expected to arrive in Sydney, while the rest will travel to Melbourne.

Safar, 32, left Australia in 2015 to travel to Islamic State-occupied Syria. She was married to an Islamic State fighter who is believed to have died in 2017.

Grandmother Kawsar Abbas is expected to fly to Melbourne with her adult daughters Zainab and Zehra Ahmed, and their children.

A source close to the process said the Syrian government has been heavily involved in the process, including transporting the group from Al-Roj camp in northern Syria, holding them while they were in Damascus and organising their flights back to Australia.

The source said there had been a “total information blackout” since the group left the camp, with even their families unaware of their wellbeing and status.

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, Barrett said police had been investigating since 2015 whether the Australians who travelled to Syria “may have committed Commonwealth offences, including terrorism offences such as entering or remaining in declared areas and crimes against humanity”.

“Some individuals will be arrested and charged,” Barrett said.

“Some will face continued investigations when they arrive in Australia, and children who return in the cohort will be asked to undergo community integration programs, therapeutic support and countering violent extremism programs.”

Barrett said she was unable to say how many of the women would be arrested upon their return to Australia.

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.”

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said he was not concerned by the seemingly imminent return of the families but added his agency would continue to monitor them.

“It’s up to them what they do when they get here. If they start to exhibit signs of concern, we and the police, through the joint counter-terrorism teams, will take action,” Burgess said.

“I’m not concerned immediately by their return but they’ll get our attention as you expect.”

This masthead reported last month that the group of 13 women and children linked to the Islamic State who have been attempting to return to Australia had 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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