Children of slain Australian Islamic State terrorist Khaled Sharrouf among group rescued in secret mission
Scott Morrison has revealed more about why the children of infamous terrorist Khaled Sharrouf were rescued and are now on their way home to Melbourne from a refugee camp in Syria.
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Scott Morrison has defended the government’s secret rescue mission to bring the orphaned children of slain Australian Islamic State terrorists’ home.
The Prime Minister today confirmed reports that eight young Australian children, including the family of infamous terrorist Khaled Sharrouf, had been rescued from a refugee camp in northern Syria over the weekend.
He said the government had carefully considered each case and any potential security risk to the community.
But he urged the public to show compassion.
“They can’t be held responsible for the crimes of their parents,” Mr Morrison told reporters in Perth.
“I mean, the fact you would take a child and put them in a conflict zone like this is despicable and I find it disgusting. But the children can’t be held responsible for that.”
He added: “I think Australians would agree that we need to show compassion in the cases of these children but at the same time, Australians would equally expect the government to exercise all the care that is needed to ensure the security issues are well addressed in the decisions that we have made.”
Mr Morrison also said a key consideration had been to ensure no Australian was put in harms way in rescuing the children.
The Australian reported today that a local aid agency collected the eight Australian children from a refugee camp in northern Syria over the weekend and drove them to a safe zone in Iraq.
They will undertake a long journey through the Middle East before arriving home.
The Sharrouf children, taken to Syria to join father Khaled who shocked the world when he posted a picture of his now-dead son Abdullah holding a Syrian official’s severed head, are Humzeh, 8, Hoda, 16, and Zaynab, 17, who is expected to have a baby this week.
Also rescued in the first organised return of Australians from the conflict zone were Zaynab’s children, three-year-old Ayesha and two-year-old Fatima, The Australian said.
Once in Australia, the Sharroufs will live with their grandmother, Karen Nettleton, in Melbourne after she visited them at the camp in April.
MORE: Aussie terrorist’s kids plead for home
MORE: Islamic State terrorist’s kids could return to Australia within weeks
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Rescuers also evacuated the orphaned children - two boys and a girl aged between six and 12 - of slain Australian Islamic State fighter Yasin Rizvic and his wife, Fauzia Khamal Bacha. It is unclear where they will live.
Mr Morrison told The Australian: “The fact that parents put their children into harm’s way by taking them into a war zone was a despicable act. However, children should not be punished for the crimes of their parents.
“Repatriating these children was not a decision the Australian government made lightly. “Australia’s national security and the safety of our people and personnel have always been our most important considerations in this matter.’’
About 70 Australians, mostly women and children, are stranded in northern Syria.
The Australian reports that the children are undergoing detailed medical and psychological reviews to assess whether they have taken on the radical views of their parents.
It is understood the group will stay in Iraq until Zaynab has her baby before they continue their journey home.
The Sharrouf children issued a plea to come home in April.
Speaking to the ABC’s Four Corners program from the al-Hawl refugee camp, Zaynab said: “We weren’t the ones that chose to come here in the first place. We were brought here by our parents.”
“For me and my children, I want to live a normal life just like anyone would want to live a normal life,” she said.
“We’ve been wanting to come home for a very long time, but we were just scared.”
The Australian said it had agreed to withhold details of the operation until the group was safely clear of the country because of the high level of risk involved.
Originally published as Children of slain Australian Islamic State terrorist Khaled Sharrouf among group rescued in secret mission
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