The Trump administration has said it is in active communication with countries, urging them to repatriate their citizens stranded in Syria, while the Australian government maintains its hardline stance towards Australian women and children detained since the fall of Islamic State.
Australians Stranded in Damascus
A group of four women, along with their nine children and grandchildren, left the al-Roj camp in Syria's north-east last Friday in an attempt to return to Australia. However, reports on Thursday morning indicated that the Albanese government's refusal to assist them has left them stuck in Damascus. Family members of the women and children did not respond to requests for comment. Most of the group are three generations of the same family, who previously stated they traveled to Syria for humanitarian purposes.
A further seven Australian women and 14 of their children remain in the al-Roj camp, according to the Guardian. These Australians are the wives, widows, and children of jailed or deceased Islamic State fighters, with most having been held at the camp for over six years. Many of the women claim they were coerced or tricked into entering Syria, or visited neighboring countries for humanitarian reasons before being trafficked into Islamic State territory. Some of the children were born in the camp and have never been outside it. None of the Australians have been charged with a crime, but one woman has been issued a temporary exclusion order to prevent her return to Australia.
Al-Roj Camp Conditions and US Position
The squalid and dangerous al-Roj camp, controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) but described by the US as an incubator for radicalization, is being steadily closed ahead of an expected handover to the Syrian government. The US government, which funds the camp's operation, has consistently insisted that countries take back their citizens and has repeatedly offered to help with repatriations. A senior administration official stated to the Guardian early Thursday morning (Australian time): The Trump administration is in active communication with nations that have citizens in Syria, specifically within the Roj camp, to facilitate repatriation of both those with and without Isis affiliation.
These comments came as Syrian officials told the Associated Press that the group of Australians was stuck in the country's capital because the Albanese government refused to allow their repatriation. The four women and nine children left al-Roj camp in the custody of the Syrian government last Friday, traveling by road to Damascus. However, Syria's information ministry said in a statement that the families were turned back before reaching Damascus international airport because the Australian government had refused to receive them. These families are still awaiting a solution, which can only be achieved through coordination with the relevant international parties. The ministry added that the families, through a lawyer, had been issued Australian travel documents delivered by an individual while they were still in north-eastern Syria.
Australian Government's Hardline Stance
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday that the United States position is not a new one and that Australia has indicated its position for some time. Asked about the US's encouragement of repatriations, Immigration Minister Tony Burke said the government's position was completely unchanged. We will not repatriate, we will not assist these individuals, Burke stated. Whether they choose to, as citizens can, to try to come back to Australia is something that if they try on their own without any of our assistance.
Australian governments have previously undertaken two successful repatriation missions: of eight orphaned children in 2019 and of four women and 13 children in 2022. However, it has since refused to repatriate any more of its citizens. One returned woman was charged with entering a proscribed area, Raqqa province. Mariam Raad pleaded guilty and was discharged conditionally in a New South Wales court. Last October, two women and four children escaped the nearby al-Hawl detention camp, making their way across Syria to Lebanon, where they were given passports at the Australian embassy and returned to Australia on a commercial flight.
