Two flights carrying women and children linked to the Islamic State group have landed in Australia.
Two so-called ISIS brides and seven children, including an individual who recently turned 18, touched down at Melbourne Airport just after 4:30pm this afternoon.
Another cohort landed aboard flight QR908 in Sydney just after 5:30pm.
A large group left the Al-Roj camp in northern Syria last week and most are understood to have boarded flights from Qatar.
AFP officers at Sydney Airport on Tuesday. (AAP: Dean Lewins)
Armed police officers were observed patrolling the arrivals area, although security presence appeared consistent with normal airport operations.
NSW Police said some family members were expected to meet those returning at the terminal.
The women and children are understood to have boarded a flight from Qatar. (ABC News)
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today declared he had “nothing but contempt for anyone who has any sympathy with ISIS”.
He reiterated the government had offered no financial support for ISIS-linked women returning from Syria and warned they would “face the full force of the law” on the advice of “security agencies”.
Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke reaffirmed in a statement the current cohort made plans to travel from Syria to Australia without government assistance.
“These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation,” he said.
“As we have said many times — any members of this cohort who have committed crimes can expect to face the full force of the law.”
Earlier this month, four women and a group of children returned from Syria’s Al-Roj camp.
Three of the women were arrested and charged by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on arrival in Melbourne and Sydney. They remain in custody.
Two have been charged with slavery offences and the other with travelling to a declared terrorist area and being a member of a terrorist organisation.
One woman from Sydney’s west was barred from returning under a temporary exclusion order (TEO).
The ABC understands Hodan Abby’s child, who is not covered by the TEO, has elected to stay with her.