They were forced to turn around soon after beginning the more than 10-hour journey by road to the Syrian capital, Damascus.<\/p>\n
At the time, it had been described as an administrative issue, with the families not properly coordinating their travel with Syrian government forces.<\/p>\n
Their supporters, including prominent Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi, said a tip-off to the media had thwarted their chances<\/a> of quietly leaving the camp to begin their journey home.<\/p>\n It had been expected that the families would bide their time before making another attempt to leave Al Roj.<\/p>\n The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday<\/a> that 17 members of the group, from four families, were preparing to leave the squalid camp.<\/p>\n It is understood the families will try to begin their journey back to Australia from Damascus.<\/p>\n Latest attempt comes months after political furore<\/p>\n The case sparked a political furore in Australia in February<\/a>, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying he had no sympathy for their plight and insisting the Australian government was not helping them leave Al Roj<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite that insistence, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Australia was under a legal obligation to provide the group with passports, given they are citizens.<\/p>\n Members of the group had single-use travel documents in hand ahead of their failed February journey, with Dr Rifi saying he had brought them to Syria.<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n Australian officials had visited Al Roj in 2022, beginning the process of identity checks. It is likely that this was what allowed passports to be issued by the Australian government.<\/p>\n Soon after the case was thrust back into the spotlight this year, one of the women was issued with a Temporary Exclusion Order (TEO)<\/a> barring her from travelling to Australia for a period of two years on national security grounds.<\/p>\n The federal opposition proposed new criminal offences for anyone trying to help the women and children<\/a>, or anyone else with links to the failed Islamic State.<\/p>\n Escape comes amid power shifts in Syria<\/p>\n In February, the ABC revealed the identities of the women in the camp<\/a> after seeing a handwritten list of their names.<\/p>\n Many of the women had previously spoken to the ABC, including as far back as 2019 when Four Corners gained access to north-eastern Syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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