Women and children linked to Islamic State spend first night on Australian soil

A group of so-called ISIS brides who left the notorious al-Roj camp in Syria last week have spent their first night home in Australia.

Two flights carrying women and children linked to the Islamic State group landed in Melbourne and Sydney yesterday afternoon.

Kirsty Rosse-Emile leaves Melbourne Airport after touching down yesterday afternoon. (AAP: Christopher Hopkins)

At Melbourne Airport, two women and seven children, including one person who recently turned 18, touched down just after 4:30pm. The women have been confirmed as Kirsty Rosse-Emile and Kawsar Kanj.

Four women and six children landed in Sydney about an hour later.

The ABC has confirmed the women are Aminah Zahab, her daughter Sumaya Zahab and niece Nesrine Zahab, along with Hyam Raad. The women and their children were taken into the care of NSW Department of Communities and Justice.

Another woman, Hodan Abby, has been barred from returning after being given a temporary exclusion order (TEO) under Australian counterterrorism laws and remains in the Middle East. The ABC understands her child, who is not covered by the TEO, has elected to stay with her.

A large group left the al-Roj camp in northern Syria last week, with most understood to have boarded flights from Qatar.

Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi, who campaigned for Australians in the camps to return home, said he believed some of the women had been “tricked” into going to Syria.

Four women and their children landed at Sydney International Airport late yesterday afternoon. (ABC News)

“It’s a terrible decision. Some of these women, I believe they were tricked to go there,” told ABC’s 7.30 program.

“Some of them are victims of the ‘death cult’ and others have not willingly [gone] there.

“The details of that are only known to security agencies and not to us.”

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said the group’s belongings were searched and their devices downloaded as part of “operational responses”.

No-one was arrested or charged. However, the AFP said investigations into the activities of Australians who had travelled to Syria and returned were ongoing.

A plane believed to be carrying a number of ISIS-linked women and children arrives at Melbourne Airport on Tuesday afternoon. (ABC News)

In Melbourne, it appeared the women and children managed to avoid cameras as they departed the airport.

The sister of Kirsty Rosse-Emile told 7News she required “a lot of support — like just to talk to someone, someone to talk to about what’s happened”.

Krystle Rosse-Emile said her sister was groomed before leaving Australia to get married at 14 to a man who later became an ISIS fighter.

In February last year, Kirsty, aged 30 at the time, said she had been detained in “Australia Street”, a camp deep in the Syrian desert, for six years, after being captured by Kurdish forces when they defeated the Islamic State terror group in March 2019.

“You don’t know my story, you don’t know why I’m here, it’s not my choice to be here,” she told the ABC at the time.

Kirsty Rosse-Emile, pictured early last year. (ABC News: Haybar Othman)

Kirsty said her story was “very unique”.

“I can’t really talk about so much of it here, because it might make problems for me,” she said last year.

Children’s charity criticises government’s handling of families

Save the Children Australia provided humanitarian relief to the families while they were in the Syrian camp.

CEO Mat Tinkler has accused the federal government of ignoring the plight of the children.

He has told ABC Radio Melbourne that he first raised concerns about 50 children in the refugee camp in 2019.

He said the federal government repatriated a group of children, with the then-prime minister Scott Morrison saying children should not be punished for the actions of their parents.

But he said the children remained there for seven years.

“I can’t think of a better example in my period in the organisation when children’s rights have been at risk and ignored and not prioritised by our government than this issue of these kids who’ve been trapped in north-east Syria,” he said.

Mat Tinkler says he is relieved to see the women’s children return to Australia. (ABC News)

Mr Tinkler said the camp was surrounded by barbed wire with guards armed with machine guns.

He described it as a “hellhole” and said it was no place for children.

“I’ve been to the camp, this is a place [where there are] tents pitched in the desert.

“There’s no running water, there’s no access to adequate healthcare or education, there’s limited access to nutritious food, kids have never seen a dentist, their teeth are rotten and fallen out, there’s no trees in the camp.”

Mr Tinkler said the best place to investigate and manage any national security risk posed by any of the group was in Australia.

He said the children would have access to education, mental health care and deradicalisation programs.

“They’ll be hopefully waking up after a good sleep this morning with some optimism for their future for the first time in a very long time.”

The ABC sought a response from the federal government about whether it had ignored the welfare of the children.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s office sent a statement saying the government’s priority was the safety of the Australian community.

“The government has not and will not provide any assistance to this group,” the statement said.

“These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation.”

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said the state was working with federal authorities to ensure community safety.

SOURCCE: Women and children linked to Islamic State spend first night on Australian soil