ISIS bride town ‘totally unaware’ of government’s resettlement program

Residents of the NSW country town where a woman was arrested and charged with offences related to activities in Syria in 2014 were not told ISIS brides were being repatriated in their area.

A local government official in the country NSW town where a woman was arrested and charged with offences related to activities in Syria in 2014 says the community was not told that federal authorities were planning to repatriate ISIS brides in their area.

“I hadn’t heard anything about it, we were unaware totally of it,” said Brian Ingram, a local councillor for Hilltops Council, which takes in the town of Young in the state’s South West Slopes region where the arrest was made.

“The whole matter has been pretty contentious from day one but I had no idea they were going to repatriate them to the country or to Young, so I am a bit surprised that any of them were here,” he said.

On Thursday, the AFP announced that it had taken a 31-year-old woman, understood to be a repatriated ISIS bride who was living in Young, into custody after what officials described as a “complex and long-term investigation”.

The lack of communication between federal officials and local communities where repatriated ISIS brides are resettled have been an ongoing issue since the program was announced last October.

Mariam Raad (right) with husband Muhammad Zahab and one of their sons. Picture: ABC

Frank Carbone, Mayor of Western Sydney’s Fairfield, where large numbers of Assyrians who fled ISIS make their home, said he was not surprised that the government had left the Forbes community in the dark.

“The arrest reinforces the concerns of our community that the government should have concluded its investigation prior to letting these people free in the community,” he said.

However MP Chris Bowen, who represents the area federally, said that “not one of the individuals in question have been settled in my electorate or in Fairfield City”, and said that in a later meeting with local mayors assurances were given that charges would be laid against anyone repatriated if the evidence warranted it.

The Albanese government also defended the repatriation program.

In a statement, a spokesman for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said: “The AFP has charged a woman who was repatriated from Syria in October for entering a declared area in 2014.

“The arrest is a result of an ongoing Joint Counter Terrorism Teams investigation and concerns (regarding) alleged conduct that occurred outside of Australia in 2014.

“Since her return, there has not been any threat to the Australian community.”

At the time of the repatriations, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil flagged the possibility of further arrests, saying that “allegations of unlawful activity will continue to be investigated.”

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