Last Australian Women and Children Leave Syrian Camp for Return Home

The final group of Australian women and children detained in northeastern Syria has departed the al-Roj camp for Damascus, signaling an imminent return to Australia, according to reports.

ABC News footage captured a minivan leaving the camp, carrying the remaining seven women and 14 children, though the Australian government has not confirmed the departure.

The group traveled under Syrian government escort and is expected to book flights to Australia in the coming days.

All 21 individuals hold Australian citizenship and possess valid travel documents.

One woman remains subject to a temporary exclusion order barring her re-entry to Australia.

The Australian government declined to confirm the reports, and officials indicated that no plane tickets have been booked yet, with the repatriation potentially taking several days.

Tanya Plibersek, the federal minister, stated that the returnees would face consequences, telling ABC: “They’ll face the same consequences as the first group.”

The Australians are the wives, widows, and children of Islamic State fighters who are either imprisoned or dead; most have been held in the camp for over six years.

Some women could face terrorism-related charges upon arrival in Australia.

Many women have claimed they were coerced or tricked into entering Syria, or traveled to neighboring countries for humanitarian purposes before being trafficked into Islamic State territory.

Several children were born inside the camp and have never experienced life outside it.

This marks the fifth group of Australians to leave Syrian detention camps since 2019; the Morrison and Albanese governments each conducted one government-led repatriation in 2019 and 2022.

Late last year, a group of women escaped from the nearby al-Hawl camp and made their way home via Beirut. Last month, four women and nine children returned from Damascus.

Upon arrival in Melbourne and Sydney, three women were arrested and charged by the Australian Federal Police.

Two of the detained women, Kawsar Ahmad and her daughter Zeinab Ahmad, face slavery charges, while Janai Safar is charged with joining a terrorist organization and traveling to a proscribed area.

The al-Roj camp, controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and described by the United States as an “incubator for radicalisation,” is gradually closing ahead of a planned handover to the Syrian government.

The Albanese government has stated it is not facilitating the returnees’ travel but warned that anyone who committed offenses will face prosecution “to the full extent of the law.”

Health Minister Mark Butler said returnees have the legal right as Australian citizens to return independently, “but if they’ve committed any offence, they’ll be met at that border… with police and charged potentially with very serious offences.”

The U.S. government, which funds the camp’s operations, has increased pressure on Australia to take back its citizens and has repeatedly offered assistance with repatriations.