34 Australians freed from Syrian camp return amid paperwork issues

Developments

A group of 34 Australian women and children believed to be wives and dependents of Islamic State fighters were released from the Roj detention camp in northern Syria after nearly seven years but were sent back to the camp for 'technical reasons'. Reports suggest the halt may have been caused by a failure to secure the necessary permissions between factions controlling the area; Reuters quoted camp officials saying the group had been handed to relatives, boarded minibuses with a military escort toward Damascus, and intended to travel onward to Beirut to seek passports.

The Australian government has maintained it will not undertake mass repatriations, warning that returnees who have committed crimes will face prosecution, while also saying it is obliged to issue passports to citizens who present themselves at an Australian embassy. Roj holds more than 2,000 mainly women and children from about 40 nationalities, and camp director Hakmiyeh Ibrahim urged foreign states to take their citizens, warning children are growing up amid 'dangerous ideas and ideologies'. The future of these 34 and thousands of other IS-affiliated relatives in Syria remains unresolved, and prior repatriations have provoked political backlash, as reported by BBC