MELBOURNE, Australia – 17 Australian citizens – 4 women and 13 children – on Thursday began the long journey back home from detention camps in northeastern Syria, where they have languished since the Second World War. The fall of Islam in Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS, in 2019.
On Saturday, they returned to New South Wales, Australia, according to a statement from Clare O’Neil, Australia’s Home Secretary.
Ms O’Neil said: “The focus is on the safety and security of all Australians as well as the safety of those involved in the campaign. “Informed by the national security consultant, the Government carefully considered security, community and welfare factors when making the decision to repatriate.”
Dozens of other Australians are still being held in camps. But there are hopes that this will be the first of several government-sponsored releases. Many of those who stay are children, who have spent most or even their lives in detention.
Following the fall of ISIS, human rights groups and family members around the world have called on governments to bring in the wives and children of the group’s fighters left in the midst of the ravages of war. But security concerns and political controversies have put many repatriations on hold, sometimes for years.
In July, France reverse course by bringing home 16 women and 35 children, including some orphans. The country has previously opposed calls to repatriate adult women who have left home to join Islamic State, saying it considers them “soldiers” not on trial in France but in other countries. where they are accused of a crime.
Last month, Europe’s top human rights court called on the French government to bring home the families of two Islamic State fighters, in a landmark ruling that could prompt other European countries to speed up their move. progress citizen’s repatriation in Syria.
In Australia, family members have government lobbying to bring their children or grandchildren home. But the decision to repatriate the families, which they learned through the news earlier this month, was a shock, said Kamalle Dabboussy, whose 31-year-old daughter, Mariam Dabboussy, is living in one of the camps with her three children said.
“I actually stopped,” he said in an interview this month, about his reaction to reports that women and children would be returning to Australia soon. “I couldn’t breathe for a few minutes, completely overwhelmed, couldn’t believe what I was reading.”
After the devastating bushfires, the shock of the coronavirus pandemic and the shift in government, any progress he and other families have ever made with the Australian government appears to have been lost.
“Unfortunately, the whole world has been disrupted by Covid,” Mr. Dabboussy said. “And these women and children have suffered longer than necessary, due to being in the camps.”
The Australian government repatriated Australians from Syria for the last time in 2019, when the six orphaned children and grandchildren of Khaled Sharrouf, a notorious Islamic State fighter, returned to live with their paternal grandmother and great-grandmother. Karen Nettleton.
But under Scott Morrison, the former prime minister of Australia, the government took a tough approach and refused to repatriate more people from the camps. A change in government following this year’s federal election seems to have heralded a different approach.
Speaking at a news conference on Friday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese did not directly mention repatriation, but said: “My government will always act to keep Australians safe and will always act on the advice of national security agencies”.
Human rights groups welcomed the decision to return the women and children to Australia, but noted that the process was lengthy and painful. Mat Tinkler, chief executive of Save the Children Australia, said: “It cannot come soon for these children, who have lived in desperate conditions for the past three and a half years,” said Mat Tinkler, chief executive officer. of Save the Children Australia, said earlier this month. “These kids have lived through hell.”
The children face health challenges, Mr. Tinkler said. “Some of them have untreated shrapnel injuries, and they have lived in camps for the past three and a half years, where there is little access to health support and nutritious food.”
Furthermore, successfully adjusting to life in Australia after the pressures of living in a war zone, with little education, is likely to receive great psychological and social support, he said. more. “It will require significant adjustment for them. They were in a very difficult situation. “
Al-Hol is one of the camps that hold families. A sea of white tents in drought-stricken northeast Syria, it is home to 55,000 people, mostly women and children, about half of whom are under the age of 12. About 25 murders have occurred at the camp this year.
The Australian Government is currently facing the challenge of re-integrating people back into a society that can feel very alien. Some could also be investigated by law enforcement agencies in Australia, Ms O’Neil said.
Living in such bleak and brutal conditions, experts say, children left behind in camps are especially vulnerable to radicalization. At least 50 Australians are still detained in Syria, according to Human Rights Watch.
On Saturday morning, several families were reunited for the first time in years. Seeing his daughter and grandchild in a hotel room in Sydney was an incredibly emotional experience, Mr Dabboussy said.
“It was absolutely ecstatic,” he said. He recalls the first thing his daughter said was “Dad, you did it, you did it. You brought us home. “
Natasha Frost reported from Melbourne, and Livia Albeck-Ripka from Los Angeles.
