Three women out of a group of 13 Australians who were coming back from Syria were taken into custody at airports on Thursday on charges relating to slavery and terrorism within the Islamic State group’s former territory, the police reported. The group, consisting of four women and nine children who had been residing in Roj Camp in the Syrian desert, arrived in Australia via two Qatar Airways flights from Doha on Thursday, following the Australian government’s announcement of their repatriation plans.
According to Stephen Nutt, the Australian federal police assistant commissioner for counter-terrorism, a 53-year-old woman who landed at Melbourne Airport is set to be charged on Friday with four crimes against humanity, including the possession of a slave and involvement in slave trading. Another woman, aged 31, who also arrived in Melbourne, is facing charges related to two slavery offenses, each carrying a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. The third woman, aged 32, who arrived in Sydney with her son, is to be charged with being a member of a terrorist organization and being in a region controlled by a terrorist organization, with each charge carrying a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Traveling to the former Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria without a legitimate reason between 2014 and 2017 became a criminal offense under Australian law. The Australian government had criticized these women for their support of Islamic State militants in Syria and had initially declined to assist in their repatriation.
Police have been investigating possible Australian involvement in atrocities in Syria for over a decade. Deakin University extremism expert Joshua Roose mentioned that Australian authorities were looking into various abuses within the former caliphate, such as the enslavement of Yazidi women and the strict enforcement of sharia law, with some of the most severe acts of violence being carried out by women.
Reporter Bridget Rollason from ABC, who was on the flight from Doha to Melbourne, shared that some of the women disclosed spending up to 12 years in Syria, with children born in dire conditions inside the camps. The women expressed readiness to face arrest, emphasizing their willingness to endure consequences for the sake of their children and their desire to bring them back to Australia.
The child-focused aid organization Save the Children had unsuccessfully attempted in 2024 to compel the Australian government to repatriate citizens from Syrian camps. Save the Children Australia’s chief executive, Mat Tinkler, highlighted the need for Australian authorities to prioritize the welfare of the returned children, stressing that two-thirds of the group in question were children who now needed support to reintegrate into normal life in Australia.
Australian governments have previously facilitated the repatriation of Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions, while some Australians have returned independently without government aid.
