The United Nations has warned the Australian government that 46 Australian citizens, including 30 children, being held in squalid camps in north east Syria are enduring conditions akin to torture.
A letter from the UN's Human Right's Council lists the names of numerous Australian women and their children, some as young as two years of age, who are being held in makeshift detention in north-east Syria, including Al-Hol and Roj, following the fall of Islamic State.
"These individuals … have been deprived of their liberty in conditions that we believe constitute a violation of a number of human rights, and meet the standard of torture or other cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," the letter states.
"We understand with concern that some of those detained, including children, are being deprived of their citizenship by the Australian authorities."
On the list is Western Sydney woman Mariam Dabboussy, who was holidaying in Lebanon in 2015 when she was taken to Syria by her ISIS fighter husband, along with her three children, aged eight, five and four.
The letter also says many detainees in the camps have complex and urgent health concerns, including "shrapnel in different parts of their bodies, including the head, which cannot be extracted given the lack of proper medical facilities in the camps".
They suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and malnourishment, according to the UN, and the medical situations are "extremely worrying".
"Due to malnourishment, dire housing and sanitary conditions and other serious deficiencies to which they have been subjected in recent years, the children, many of whom are very young, present diversified and disturbing medical conditions including anaemia, asthma, skin irritations, chronic infections, and grave dental problems," the letter states.
"Owing to their repeated exposure to violence and insecurity, they show signs of trauma, including psychological and behavioural disorders, as well as chronic fatigue and acute stress."
It adds that some of the women may have been coerced or trafficked into Syria.
The UN urges the Australian government to repatriate its citizens from Syria, saying it's the only "legal and humane response" to the situation.
Ms Dabboussy's father Kamalle has seen the conditions first hand, having travelled to the Syrian camps previously to see his daughter and grandchildren.
He said the Australian government must act urgently to get them and the other Australians home.
"This is 10 specialist UN agencies, in a pointed letter that Scott Morrison can't ignore," Mr Dabboussy told the ABC.
"It's not overstated — stop playing politics with the lives of defenceless Australian children.
"The sporadic messages from my daughter and others on the camp are gut-wrenching and if the decision-makers would hear first hand they would be made of stone not to act."
Sent to the government in mid-February, the letter has only been published on the UN's website on the weekend.
Only two weeks earlier, the UN sent another letter in relation to men and boys being held in prisons in north-east Syria.
In response to both, Australia's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Amanda Gorley, wrote that the government was concerned about and closely monitoring the situation in north-east Syria and was aware of the presence of Australians there.
"Australia does not accept that it exercises jurisdiction over detention facilities in north-east Syria such as to engage the extraterritorial application of Australia's international human rights obligations," the Ambassador wrote.
"The Australian government's view is that detention in north-east Syria must be in accordance with applicable international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law."
On Sunday, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the government had to consider the safety of Australians domestically.
"We have to be very clear about these matters for the protection of all Australians and that includes here … I wouldn't go into the specifics of any intelligence, of course, but ultimately they are Australians who have found themselves in this position because their parents took themselves to those war zones," she said.
Acting CEO of Save the Children Australia Mat Tinkler said it was Australia's responsibility to get these women and children home safely.
"Sadly, we think it's probably only a matter of time before an Australian child dies in these conditions," he said.
"This is clearly a responsibility of the Australian government... these are Australian citizens, these children are innocent.
"There's no question if an Australian child dies in these camps, it could have been prevented and it could have been prevented by an act of the Australian government."
