SYDNEY — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday that his government would not help Australians in a Syrian camp holding families of suspected ISIS militants return home, with the government open to prosecutions if they make it back.
“We have a very firm view that we won’t be providing assistance or repatriation,” Albanese told ABC News.
Thirty-four Australians released on Monday from a camp in northern Syria were returned to the detention center due to “technical reasons,” two sources told Reuters on Monday.
Dubbed “IS brides” by local media — though the cohort also includes children — they are expected to travel to Damascus before eventually returning to Australia, despite objection from ruling and opposition lawmakers.
A spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Australia’s security agencies had been monitoring the situation in Syria, and said those who had broken the law would be prosecuted.
“People in this cohort need to know that if they have committed a crime and if they return to Australia they will be met with the full force of the law,” he said.
The Islamic State militant group is a listed terror organization in Australia, with membership punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Australia also has the power to strip dual nationals of citizenship if they are an ISIS member.
The return of relatives of suspected ISIS militants is a political issue in Australia, where there has been a surge in popularity of the right-wing, anti-immigration One Nation party led by Pauline Hanson.
“They hate Westerners, and that’s what it’s all about. You say there’s great Muslims out there, well I’m sorry, how can you tell me there are good Muslims?” Hanson said in an interview on Sky News on Monday, following news of the suspected ISIS family members’ return.
The comments were criticized by members of Hanson’s party.
A poll this week found One Nation’s share of the popular vote at a record high of 26%, above the combined support for the traditional center-right coalition currently in opposition.
Sarah Henderson, a senator in the Liberal party that has seen its vote eroded by One Nation, said Tuesday that Australians with sympathies toward ISIS should be barred from re-entering the country.
“If these are people who subscribed to ISIS ideology, who subscribe to this extremist ideology, then they should not be returning to Australia,” she told ABC.
Australian citizens have a legal right to enter the country under both local and international law.
