A security expert has warned that Australian ISIS fighters currently imprisoned in Iraq are likely to be returned to Australia, despite the Australian government's stated position against bringing them home.
Detainees in Baghdad prison
More than a dozen Australians are being held in a Baghdad prison, where US and Iraqi officials are interrogating them as part of a process that could determine whether they are released and repatriated. The development comes amid a renewed push by Iraqi authorities to return prisoners they consider non-combatants to their countries of origin.
While the Australian government has told The Australian it will make no effort to bring the detainees home, international security expert Will Geddes believes Australia may ultimately have little choice in the matter.
Expert's warning
“The bad news is there is every good chance they will be returned,” Geddes told Sunrise on Thursday. “Those recent ISIS brides that were returned are setting a precedent moving forward.”
Geddes highlighted the challenge of proving the alleged crimes committed by the detainees while they were members of the Islamic State. “One of the biggest challenges is trying to get sufficient evidence of these individuals and the evil actions they carried out when they were part of the Islamic State caliphate in Syria and Iraq,” he said.
Claims of coercion
He warned that many would argue they were forced to participate in the terrorist group’s propaganda and activities. “These individuals will claim that they were coerced or they were enforced to carry out those publicity angles and propaganda for the Islamic State,” he said.
However, Geddes disputed those claims, arguing that, to his knowledge, the detainees were active participants in the extremist group. “These individuals were all involved; even the ISIS brides were involved in dealing with the Yazidi sex slaves,” he said. “All of them, as far as I understand, were combatants.”
Public concern
Geddes said the prospect of Australian ISIS fighters returning home would alarm many Australians, particularly given the Bondi terror attack remains so fresh in the nation’s memory. The comments come after several women and children linked to Islamic State were allowed to return from detention camps in Syria in recent months, with many of the women facing criminal investigations or terrorism-related charges upon their arrival.
