Their release and imminent extraction marks a significant development after months of failed negotiations that led to 34 women and their children being turned back<\/a> to the camp in February.<\/p>\n \u201cThe world is watching,\u201d the source said, pointing to rare co-ordination between Washington and Damascus, aligned with broader UN interests.<\/p>\n \u201cThey will not be flying in the next day or two. I expect in early May next week. I can tell you it\u2019s imminent,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n If successful, the group\u2019s deportation by Syrian authorities back to Australia would be the first of its kind from Damascus involving Australian-linked detainees since the collapse of Islamic State\u2019s territorial control.<\/p>\n Previous groups have all crossed the border into Lebanon or into northern Iraq, either with the assistance of previous federal governments or independently.<\/p>\n The latest effort to deport the cohort of ISIS-linked families follows the Iran war ceasefire announcement on April 8, which the source said was a \u201ccatalyst\u201d that accelerated negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are challenges that remain \u2026 it\u2019s not certain (whether) the group will travel together or be split across different flights. Transit routes also need to avoid Turkey. The current planning is focused on moving them through Doha or Dubai,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ceasefire agreement was a catalyst for negotiations between Syria, the US State Department, the Red Cross and the UN. The co-ordination was perfect during that time because it gave a real window of opportunity given all of the logistical challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n The Australian was told the order to transfer the cohort came from Mr al-Shaibani, who personally authorised their departure from Roj camp last week.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Foreign Minister agreed to sign off on their transfer from the camp to Damascus. It had to go through him,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n Following their interrogation, the group will be released into the care of \u201cAustralian intermediaries\u201d inside Syria, including Melbourne coach Abraham Abbas<\/a> who The Australian previously revealed was one of three helpers on the ground.<\/p>\n An earlier attempt to move them out of the Kurdish-controlled territory collapsed only 50km out of the camp after Syrian authorities refused entry, which exposed fractures between intermediaries, including Sydney GP Jamal Rifi<\/a> and Mr Abbas, according to another source familiar with the situation.<\/p>\n Kurdish forces had agreed to release the group into the care of Mr Abbas and another Australian, but confusion over approvals from Damascus saw them turned back before reaching the capital.<\/p>\n The failed crossing triggered tensions among the small team of helpers, with Mr Abbas accusing Dr Rifi of overpromising and failing to secure final clearance from Syrian authorities. Neither one could be reached for comment.<\/p>\n The Australian has been told the new repatriation arrangement is fundamentally different, driven by international pressure rather than ad hoc negotiations on the ground.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Anthony Albanese said the ISIS brides made their children the victims of \u201cevil choices\u201d and refused to offer any details about the group\u2019s return. <\/p>\n The Prime Minister insisted that \u201cintelligence information\u201d should be kept confidential and said his government had not offered any support.<\/p>\n \u201cMy views have not changed with regard to people who went overseas and chose to support Isis rather than Australia, when ISIS had an objective of setting up a caliphate to literally attack democracies like Australia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think these children are victims of their parents\u2019 bad choices, evil choices, to undermine Australia\u2019s national interest.\u201d<\/p>\n The latest effort has drawn global attention, with organisations including Human Rights Watch watching developments.<\/p>\n Mohammad Alfares is a journalist based in the Melbourne bureau of The Australian, where he covers breaking news, politics, legal affairs, and religious issues. He began filming and editing homemade ‘productions’ as a child \u2014 an early sign of his future in journalism. He holds a Bachelor of Communication from Massey University in New Zealand and began his career in broadcast news before transitioning to print. Outside the newsroom, Mohammad is an avid fisherman and adrenaline-seeker. When he\u2019s not chasing a big catch, he enjoys unwinding with a good coffee, fresh air, and a ride on his motorbike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The US has intervened to secure the imminent departure of four Australian ISIS brides and their nine children…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[269,300,124,287,297,22,295,21,267,292,271,290,285,284,286,270,294,278,281,283,104,268,280,119,135,288,289,274,273,291,299,279,276,272,277,296,298,266,117,275,282,293],"class_list":{"0":"post-163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-abraham-abbas","9":"tag-amanda-hodge","10":"tag-america","11":"tag-asaad-al-shaibani","12":"tag-asia","13":"tag-au","14":"tag-australian-intermediaries","15":"tag-austrlia","16":"tag-ceasefire-agreement","17":"tag-ceasefire-announcement","18":"tag-damascus","19":"tag-europe","20":"tag-final-clearance","21":"tag-final-interrogations","22":"tag-flight-tickets","23":"tag-foreign-minister","24":"tag-government-insisting","25":"tag-human-rights-watch","26":"tag-international-pressure","27":"tag-international-red-cross-and-red-crescent-movement","28":"tag-iran","29":"tag-last-ditch-intervention","30":"tag-netherlands","31":"tag-north-america","32":"tag-northern-america","33":"tag-northern-europe","34":"tag-real-window","35":"tag-set-date","36":"tag-source-familiar","37":"tag-southern-asia","38":"tag-stalled-negotiations","39":"tag-sweden","40":"tag-syria","41":"tag-syrian-authorities","42":"tag-territorial-control","43":"tag-turkey","44":"tag-united-nations-organization","45":"tag-united-states-department-of-state","46":"tag-united-states-of-america","47":"tag-washington","48":"tag-western-asia","49":"tag-western-europe"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Inside](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/14a9760da204fe090e3ec532c5ff04b6.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Mohammad](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/alfares_mohammad.png\")
<\/a>Mohammad Alfares<\/a>Journalist<\/p>\n