SYDNEY: The Australian government has repatriated four Australian women and their 13 children from a Syrian refugee camp, Home Affairs Minister Clare O\u2019Neil said on Saturday in a resumption of a controversial program.
\nThe repatriation to New South Wales state, criticized by the Liberal-National opposition, is part of bringing back from Syria dozens of Australian women and children who are relatives of dead or jailed fighters from the so-called Daesh group.
\nAustralia rescued eight children and grandchildren of two dead Daesh fighters from a Syrian refugee camp in 2019 but has held off repatriating any others until now.
\n\u201cThe decision to repatriate these women and their children was informed by individual assessments following detailed work by national security agencies,\u201d O\u2019Neil said in a statement.
\nThe women and children left the Al-Roj refugee camp in northern Syria on Thursday afternoon and crossed into Iraq to board a flight home, the Sydney Morning Herald and state broadcaster ABC reported on Friday.
\nThe Labor-led government\u2019s focus has been on the safety and security of \u201call Australians\u201d and those involved in the repatriation, O\u2019Neil said, adding the government had \u201ccarefully considered the range of security, community and welfare factors in making the decision to repatriate.\u201d
\nThe repatriation followed similar moves by the United States, Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Britain and Canada, O\u2019Neil said.
\nShe said allegations of illegal activity would continue to be investigated by state and federal law enforcement authorities. Local media previously reported some women may be charged with terrorism offenses or for entering Syria illegally.
\n\u201cAny identified offenses may lead to law enforcement action being taken,\u201d O\u2019Neil said, adding that New South Wales was providing \u201cextensive support services\u201d to help the group reintegrate into Australia.
\nOpposition Leader Peter Dutton has labelled the move as not in the country\u2019s best interest, saying the women have mixed with \u201cpeople who hate our country, hate our way of life.\u201d
\nPrime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters he would not discuss details of the group\u2019s case but said he was following national security advice.
\n\u201cThe Australian government will always work to ensure that people are kept safe here in Australia, that is our priority,\u201d he said, according to an official transcript of his remarks in Griffith, in regional New South Wales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SYDNEY: The Australian government has repatriated four Australian women and their 13 children from a Syrian refugee camp, Home Affairs Minister Clare O\u2019Neil said on Saturday in a resumption of a controversial program. The repatriation to New South Wales state, criticized by the Liberal-National opposition, is part of bringing back from Syria dozens of Australian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-292334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n