A group of women and children with links to the collapsed Islamic State have begun landing in Australia, more than six years after being taken into refugee camps in Syria.<\/p>\n
One group touched down at Melbourne Airport shortly before 5:30pm this evening, while another woman and her child landed in Sydney about 15 minutes later.<\/p>\n
The cohort, referred to by some politicians as the “ISIS brides”, are a group of women who moved to Syria during the height of the Islamic State movement then got trapped there after the group’s territorial “caliphate” was defeated in 2019.<\/p>\n
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The Qatar Airways flight landed in Melbourne shortly before 5.30pm. (ABC News)<\/p>\n
Thousands of foreign family members of suspected and deceased Islamic State operatives were detained in refugee camps in north-eastern Syria, where many have remained since.<\/p>\n
Thirteen Australians \u2014 four women and nine children \u2014 left the Al Roj camp on April 24<\/a>, and are understood to have been based in Syria’s capital Damascus before booking their flights home this week.<\/p>\n The case has become a political headache for the federal government, which has for months condemned the group’s actions and warned they would receive no assistance from Australia.<\/p>\n Federal police yesterday confirmed some of the women would be arrested and charged after returning to Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Qatar Airways flight believed to be carrying a woman linked to ISIS fighters and her child lands in Sydney. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)<\/p>\n The charges, AFP commissioner Krissy Barrett said, could include “terrorism offences, such as entering or remaining in declared areas, and crimes against humanity offences such as engaging in slave trading”.<\/p>\n Investigations into some women will also continue after their return to Australia, Ms Barrett said.<\/p>\n It is understood 21 Australians still remain in the Al Roj camp in north-eastern Syria.<\/p>\n Do you know more about this story? Contact Rollason.Bridget@abc.net.au<\/a>.<\/p>\n Families say life in Syria was ‘hell’<\/p>\n The extent of the federal government’s involvement in the case has also come under scrutiny, after the Syrian government last week said it had prevented the group from reaching Damascus<\/a> because “the Australian government had refused to receive them”.<\/p>\n Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke yesterday said the federal government was not involved in the Syrian government’s actions.<\/p>\n But overnight, a Syrian government official told the ABC the Australian government was the “deciding factor” in whether or not the group could leave Syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read more on this story:<\/p>\n In response, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it never asked the Syrian government to delay the group’s return. Other federal government departments were also contacted for comment.<\/p>\n For months, Australian officials have said that while they will not help the ISIS-linked families return home, they did not have the power to stop them.<\/p>\n All of the women and children are Australian citizens and hold Australian passports.<\/p>\n One of the women who is believed to still be in the Al Roj camp is subject to a Temporary Exclusion Order<\/a>, which puts restrictions on travelling to Australia for up to two years.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/318592c91eb6d333ddd744d4f7e6d8c8.jpeg\")
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