Three female relatives of Islamic State jihadists returning from Syria have been arrested as soon as they arrived in Australia, federal police have said.
The women are Australian citizens and arrived in the country today at Sydney and Melbourne airports, accompanied by their children.
The women are Australian citizens and arrived in the country today at Sydney and Melbourne airports accompanied by their children.
These women, aged 31, 32 and 53, who had been living for years in the Rose camp in Syria, have been taken into custody, police said.
A fourth woman who also returned from Syria was not arrested.
Australian police have clarified that some of the women have been charged under anti-terrorism legislation, mainly for travelling to a restricted area and for involvement in slave trafficking.
On Wednesday Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said: “The government will not offer any assistance to these individuals.”
“They have made an outrageous and shameful decision. If one or more of these individuals manage to return to Australia, and if they have committed crimes, they should expect to face the full force of the law, with no exceptions,” Burke stressed.
Meanwhile the Australian government has banned another woman also living in the Pink camp from returning to Australia.
About 2,000 foreign women and children are still living in Camp Rose, displaced after the collapse of Islamic State in March 2019, Syrian officials said last month.
