Aussie IS brides trapped in Syria
DOZENS of Australian wives and children of captured Islamic State fighters in Syrian prison camps will remain stranded for the foreseeable future.
Despite pressure from the US government for Australia to repatriate the “ISIS brides” and their children, current international conditions made their rescue almost impossible, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said.
The US has repeatedly pushed for Australia and other countries of origin, to take responsibility for bringing to justice their citizens who fought for IS, and to take in their family members.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday said he offered to “work with” Australia to bring back the displaced Australians.
“We’ve been very clear, our expectation is that the places that these fighters are being detained may not be sustainable and we will need to work with each host country to bring the people back,” he said.
“We think that’s important. We’ve been consistent across all the nations that have fighters that are there inside of Syria.”
Ms Payne said some progress had been made in bringing children home, but that it would be some time before a resolution could be found.
“It’s important to note that Australia has repatriated some orphans from Syria, but these are very complex challenges and I don’t think that that should be underestimated,” Ms Payne said.
“The priority of the Australian government is the protection of Australia and the Australian community. We’re a good international citizen and we don’t shy away from our responsibilities.
“And those also, of course, include our responsibilities to citizens at home, to our diplomats and officials who would be required to travel into what are very dangerous situations.
“And as the government has repeatedly said … we will not put Australian lives at risk to try to extract people.”
What was already a difficult situation had been further strained by the coronavirus.
“We have seen closed borders, significant travel restrictions, significant international travel bans put in place, including of course in Australia,” Ms Payne said.
“In itself, movement in Syria and in the region is now more complex than ever. And at home we see our states and territories are very stretched, as an understatement in some cases, because of the impact of COVID-19 infections.
“So any assessment of the sorts of resources that would be needed to reintegrate, to monitor, to secure, to deradicalise people who are brought home are under significantly more pressure than they usually would be.”