A second cohort of so-called “ISIS brides” and their children have touched down in Australia after a days-long journey from Syria. Flights carrying six Australian women with links to Islamic State, one adult daughter and 12 younger children landed in Melbourne just before 4.30pm on Tuesday and Sydney just after 5.30pm.
One ISIS-linked bride has been kept out of the country by a temporary exclusion order. It is understood legal challenges are underway to overturn that and allow her to return.
The group left the notorious al-Roj refugee camp in northern Syria late last week, travelling by bus to the country’s capital of Damascus before flying to Doha where they boarded Qatar Airways services to Australia.
Government Response
“These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said. “As we have said many times, any members of this cohort who have committed crimes can expect to face the full force of the law.”
Burke said law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been preparing for their return since 2014 and “have long-standing plans in place to manage and monitor them”. Counter-terrorism police are part of the operation dealing with the arrival on Tuesday.
Family Perspective
The sister of one of the returning women told 7NEWS she was married off at 14 and had little choice in her future. “She’s been living like a prisoner,” Krystle Rosse-Emile said.
A Qatar Airways flight carrying Australians with links to Islamic State landed in Sydney. The federal opposition previously blasted the group’s return, saying the government “should be doing everything in its power to prevent these people from coming”. The government argues the group has legal rights as Australian citizens to make their way back to the border.
“The priority of the government, as always, is the safety of the Australian community,” Burke said on Tuesday.
Previous Arrivals
Their arrival comes weeks after four ISIS-linked brides and their nine children flew into Melbourne and Sydney. Federal police arrested three of the women using terror organisation membership and slavery charges. A fourth woman was not charged. It is unclear if any of Tuesday’s arrivals will be arrested.
