The Trump administration says it is in “active communication” with countries, urging them to repatriate citizens stranded in Syria, while the Australian government maintains its hardline stance towards Australian women and children detained since the fall of Islamic State.
A group of four women, their nine children and grandchildren left al-Roj camp, in Syria’s north-east, last Friday in a bid to return to Australia, with reports on Thursday morning that the Albanese government’s refusal to help them has left them stuck in Damascus.
Family members of the women and children did not respond to requests for comment.
Most of the group are three generations of the same family, who have previously said they travelled to Syria for humanitarian purposes.
A further seven Australian women, and 14 of their children, remain in al-Roj camp, the Guardian has been told.
The Australians are the wives, widows and children of jailed or dead Islamic State fighters, and most have been held at the camp for more than six years. Many of the women have said they were coerced or tricked into entering Syria, or visited neighbouring countries for humanitarian reasons before being trafficked into IS territory. Some of the children were born in the camp and have never been outside it.
None of the Australians has been charged with a crime, but one woman has been issued with a temporary exclusion order seeking to prevent her return to Australia.
Australia-based supporters of the women and children who assisted in previous return missions did not respond to a request for comment, but have previously been concerned about the combative stance taken by the Albanese government.
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailThe squalid and dangerous al-Roj camp, controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) but described by the US as an “incubator for radicalisation”, is being steadily shuttered, ahead of an expected handover to the Syrian government.
News of the latest attempt by the Australians to return home prompted the Albanese government to again claim the cohort was not wanted, warning members would be prosecuted to the “full extent of the law” on return to Australia if they had committed an offence.
But the US government, which funds the camp’s operation, has consistently insisted countries take back their citizens, and has repeatedly offered to help with repatriations.
A senior administration official said in a statement to the Guardian early Thursday morning (Australian time):
“The Trump administration is in active communication with nations that have citizens in Syria, specifically within the Roj camp, to facilitate repatriation of both those with and without Isis affiliation.”
The comments came as Syrian officials told the Associated Press the group of Australians were stuck in the country’s capital because the Albanese government refused to allow their repatriation.
The four women and nine children left al-Roj camp in the custody of the Syrian government last Friday, travelling by road to the capital, Damascus. However, Syria’s information ministry said in a statement that the families were turned back before reaching Damascus international airport, because “the Australian government had refused to receive them.”
“These families are still awaiting a solution, which can only be achieved through coordination with the relevant international parties.”
The ministry said that the families, through a lawyer, had been issued Australian travel documents that were delivered by an “individual” that it didn’t identify while they were still in north-eastern Syria.
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said on Thursday: “the United States position is not a new one. That has been their position for some time, and we have indicated our position for some time.
Asked about the US’s encouragement of repatriations on Thursday, Burke said the government’s position was “completely unchanged”.
“We will not repatriate, we will not assist these individuals,” Burke said. “Whether they choose to, as citizens can, to try to come back to Australia is something that if they try on their own without any of our assistance.”
Australian governments have previously undertaken two successful repatriation missions: of eight orphaned children in 2019 and of four women and 13 children in 2022.
But it has since refused to repatriate any more of its citizens.
One returned woman was charged with entering a proscribed area, Raqqa province. Mariam Raad pleaded guilty and was discharged conditionally in a NSW court.
Last October, two women and four children escaped nearby al-Hawl detention camp, making their way across Syria to Lebanon, where they were given passports at the Australian embassy. They returned to Australia on a commercial flight.
