Melbourne woman is charged over ISIS links months after her return from Syria – as police confirm all recent arrivals are under investigation

A Melbourne woman formerly linked to the terror group Islamic State (IS) has been charged with terrorism offences after returning to Australia.

Rayann El Houli, 34, from Broadmeadows, was charged with entering or remaining in a declared area and being part of a terrorist organisation, both carrying maximum penalties of ten years’ imprisonment.

AFP Deputy Commissioner for National Security Investigations Hilda Sirec told reporters the charges were laid after search warrants were executed at homes in Broadmeadows and Fitzroy North.

Officers seized a suspected stolen motor vehicle, electronic devices, documents and photographs, which will undergo forensic examination.

‘It will be alleged the woman travelled to Syria between 2013 and 2014 to join ISIS,’ Deputy Commissioner Sirec said.

‘The woman was detained by Kurdish forces in March 2019 and held with her other family members in an internally displaced persons camp. She returned to Australia on 26 September 2025.’

Police allege El Houli was in the company of others, including a man, when she travelled to Syria to join ISIS.

The man is believed to be imprisoned in the Middle East.

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A Melbourne woman has been charged with terrorism offences after returning to Australia in September

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AFP Deputy Commissioner Hilda Sirec said police will allege the woman travelled to Syria between 2013 and 2014 with others, including a man, to join ISIS

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It comes two days after seven women and 12 children arrived in Sydney and Melbourne from Syria (pictured a cohort arriving in Sydney on Tuesday)

El Houli is expected to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates Court later on Thursday.

Deputy Commissioner Sirec also confirmed all of the women who returned recently are ‘under investigation’.

‘These operations are complex, but JCTT investigators are extremely experienced and dedicated to keeping the community safe,’ she said.

‘It is important to note that a period of time without charges being laid is not an indicator that investigations have ceased.

‘Anyone who would like to provide information about the investigation is encouraged to call the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400.’

The announcement comes two days after seven women and 12 children arrived in Sydney and Melbourne from Syria, with no arrests made on arrival.

Another group of four women and nine children returned to Australia on May 7, with some of the women met by police on arrival.

Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her daughter Zeinab Ahmad, 31, were charged with enslavement and using a slave after landing in Melbourne.

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Janai Safar is pictured after being arrested at Sydney Airport on May 7

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There was a heavy police presence seen at Sydney Airport ahead of the group’s arrival

Abbas was also charged with possessing a slave and engaging in slave trading.

Her other daughter Zahra Ahmad, 33, was not accused of committing any crimes and walked free from Melbourne Airport.

Janai Safar, 32, landed in Sydney and was charged with entering and remaining in a declared conflict zone and joining a terrorist organisation.

‘ISIS brides’ describes women recruited by the terrorist group and moved to Iraq or Syria to marry fighters and raise children between 2012 and 2016.

Many women have said they were misled into travelling to Syria, with experts suggesting recruiters presented a utopian view of life under the group.

Following IS’s fall in 2019, the women and their children were placed in the Al-Roj refugee camp in far north-eastern Syria. The men were executed or imprisoned.

Boys in the Al-Roj camp were transferred to adult prison once they reached their teenage years, sometimes earlier.

SOURCE: Melbourne woman is charged over ISIS links months after her return from Syria – as police confirm all recent arrivals are under investigation | Daily Mail Online