Voters against return of ISIS wives, kids

Voters are mostly opposed to the repatriation from Syria of Islamic State wives and children holding Australian citizenship.

Voters are mostly opposed to the repatriation from Syria of Islamic State wives and children holding Australian citizenship.

A Newspoll found 59 per cent of 1634 voters polled between October 17 and 19 are opposed to their return, against 36 per cent who were in favour, The Australian reported on Tuesday.

Some 20 Australian women and 46 children are stranded in refugee camps in northern Syria following the defeat of ISIS.

The federal government has so far resisted calls for them to be brought home, saying the situation is too dangerous and would endanger the lives of defence troops sent to retrieve them.

Opposition to their return was strongest among Coalition voters at 70 per cent, according to the Newspoll.

But Labor voters appeared to be split on the issue, with 50 per cent in favour of their repatriation and 45 per cent against.

Home Affairs Department secretary Mike Pezzullo told a Senate estimates hearing that bringing them back was “high risk” and described the regions where the camps are situated as the “badlands”.

“It would it would have been much better, of course, for certain adults not to have made certain decisions to travel,” he told the hearing in Canberra on Monday.

Originally published as Voters against return of ISIS wives, kids