The Australian wives and children of Islamic State killers have called for them to be allowed back into the country after years of being locked up in a Syrian detention camp.
A group of 12 Australian women and 22 children, aged between five and 56, have been held in the Al-Roj detention camp in north-east Syria for up to four years.
They say they are trapped in a “living hell” with no sign of relief after the fall of the Islamic terrorist organisation left them stranded.
All of her husbands were killed or imprisoned after the defeat of ISIS.
The Morrison government repatriated eight Australian children in 2019, and Anthony Albanese allowed another 13 and four mothers to return home in October 2022.
But those left behind see no hope of returning and insist the uncertainty is torture.
“We were told we would all go home,” said one of two Australian women at the camp who spoke to the The Sydney Morning Herald.
‘But for the past two years, we have been given no explanation as to why we were left behind while the others are now recovering and moving on with their lives.
“This is just a form of indefinite torture.”
A group of 12 Australian women and 22 children, aged between five and 56, are easy prey at the Al-Roj detention camp in north-east Syria, where many of them have been held for four years (pictured, Al-Roj camp in September 2020)
The camp, located near the Iraqi border, consists of dozens of tents set up on a dirt and gravel field, surrounded by a metal fence.
Al-Roj The camp is home to around 2,600 detainees from 55 countries, many of them wives of ISIS members and their children. The camp is guarded by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and conditions are appalling.
Fresh food and clean water are hard to come by, and the camp’s location in the Syrian desert brings with it both scorching and freezing temperatures.
“We are left in the dark and swept under the rug as if we are not living, breathing human beings,” one of the women told the publication, speaking through retired lawyer Robert van Aalst.
He added that everyone in the detention camp was sick and that getting medicine was a daily struggle.
Children as young as 10 have reportedly been separated from their mothers and siblings and taken to adult detention centres in other camps.
One of the Australian women detained said her son bites his nails until they bleed and suffers night terrors for fear of being separated from his family.
Beatings and shootings are also reported to be common occurrences.
ISIS brides say they prefer to raise their children themselves, for fear that the school in al-Roj camp could radicalize them.
“Our children want to go to school, make friends and go to a park that is not surrounded by a fence and soldiers,” said one woman.
The camp, which is close to the Iraqi border, consists of dozens of tents set up on a dirt and gravel field surrounded by a metal fence.
In November last year, the Federal Court dismissed an application by the charity Save The Children Australia (STCA) for the Australian government to repatriate the women and children still in detention.
The charity appealed the decision, which was again overturned by the Federal Court in June this year.
The court found that the Australian government had no control over the detention of Australian women and children, but admitted that if the government wanted to repatriate the detainees, it would be “a relatively straightforward exercise”.
The STCA has now been granted special leave to appeal the matter to the High Court, with oral submissions due to be heard on 23 September.
The charity’s chief executive, Mat Tinkler, said ISIS brides and children were “living in stifling desert heat without reliable electricity or access to adequate healthcare or education.
“Their situation is getting worse every day,” he said in a statement.
“Australian citizenship must mean something, and we urge the Federal Government to end their suffering by immediately repatriating these families to their home country, where they can be safe in Australia. This would stop this legal action.”
‘These are innocent Australian children who have suffered immense trauma and suffering, but are stranded in desert camps where they are rapidly losing hope.
Al-Roj is home to around 2,600 detainees from 55 countries, many of them ISIS brides and their children (pictured: a woman in Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria)
Many of those living in the camp cannot get fresh food, clean water or medicine (pictured: a child hiding in Al-Roj in 2023)
‘What I find difficult to comprehend is that the Australian Government could end their suffering right now by returning them home and offering them a chance at a real life, but our political leaders are choosing not to act.
‘Last month, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands and Finland repatriated women and children from the camps, proving once again that repatriations are possible.
‘Despite the ruling, we call on the Government to end this relentless limbo and finish what it started almost two years ago, by repatriating the remaining children and their mothers before it is too late.’
In late 2022, the Australian government announced plans to bring home 16 women and 42 children from the camp, but no further progress has been made on possible repatriation.
Many of the children were born in Syria and have never seen Australia, while their mothers say they were forced, tricked or coerced into marrying ISIS fighters.
The Department of Home Affairs said it “remains concerned about women and children with links to Australia who remain in IDP camps”.
The department added that government assistance was “severely limited due to the extremely dangerous security situation and because we do not have an embassy or consulate in Syria.”
A child living in Al-Roj camp is photographed in October last year.