A group of Australian women and children with reported ties to Islamic State are on flights home from a camp in northeast Syria and are due to arrive in Australia on Thursday night, Australian media reported.
The Australian government said on Wednesday that four women and nine children who had been detained in northeast Syria planned to return to Australia, but that they would not receive government assistance on their return.
According to reporting by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, one woman and her child were on a flight to Sydney from Doha, while an additional contingent had boarded a separate flight heading to Melbourne.
Officials did not immediately confirm travel details. The office of Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke did not promptly respond to a request for comment on the group’s travel plans, as reported.
Law enforcement agencies have signaled that arrivals could trigger criminal processes. The Australian Federal Police have said some members of the returning group could be arrested and charged upon arrival, while others might remain under investigation, according to media accounts.
The children in the group are expected to be enrolled in community reintegration and support programmes on their return, the reports said.
Media reporting says some Australian women travelled to Syria between 2012 and 2016 to join husbands who were alleged to have become members of Islamic State. Following the territorial defeat of Islamic State in 2019, many relatives of suspected fighters were detained in camps, including al-Hol near the Iraqi border.
Some Australian women have returned home in earlier instances, according to Australian media. In January, the United States began moving detained Islamic State members out of Syria after the collapse of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which had been guarding roughly a dozen facilities holding Islamic State fighters and affiliated civilians, including foreigners.
The reporting describes a situation that combines immigration, criminal investigation and social services responses, with authorities managing returns case by case as travel and legal arrangements are finalised.