Waleed Aly defends ISIS brides resettled in western Sydney, sparks heated debate online

A western Sydney mayor has slammed The Project’s Waleed Aly after a heated interview about the repatration of ISIS brides and their children.

The Project’s Waleed Aly has sparked furious debate online after a heated interview with a western Sydney mayor about the repatration of ISIS brides and their children in his community.

The mayor of Fairfield, Frank Carbone locked horns with the host on Wednesday evening as he tried to explain how resettling the ISIS brides would affect refugees who had escaped conflict in the Middle East for a life in suburban Sydney.

Mr Carbone went one step further on Thursday by talking about the Nazis.

“He (Waleed Aly) cannot tell me to suck it up, especially when he’s in a Melbourne studio,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.

“He doesn’t walk in our shoes and he doesn’t understand how hard it is. It’s our city that’s always taken the burden of resettled migrants.

“You wouldn’t put Hitler’s wife in the middle of a Jewish settlement.”

Mr Carbone then suggested the former ISIS members should be moved to Aly’s Melbourne neighbourhood so he could experience Fairfield’s experience resettling “12,000 refugees”.

Mr Carbone, along with neighbouring mayors from Campbelltown and Liverpool, recently sent a joint letter to Anthony Albanese requesting a meeting to address their concerns.

“Your government has confirmed a repatriation plan for 26 women and 42 children who are the family of Islamic State fighters, with the majority expected to resettle in South West Sydney, without any consultation of the communities from South West Sydney,” it read.

On Wednesday morning, Mr Carbone later appeared on television to address the letter, claiming western Sydney was being used as a “dumping ground”.

The press junket continued on Wednesday night when Mr Carbone appeared on Channel 10’s The Project to plead his case, insisting the resettlement of former ISIS families would impact the refugees alread living in his community.

Frustrated viewers took to social media to call out Aly for rejecting Mr Carbone’s stance and insisting the families were entitled to repatriation as they were Australian citizens.

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Mr Carbone accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not consulting with western Sydney communities about the resettlements. Picture: Martin Ollman

‘To The Project panel - I’m disgusted with each one of you in how you questioned the mayor,’ one fan wrote on The Project’s Instagram.

‘These people in question should not be classified as Australian citizens when they chose to go to Syria and support their husbands against our soldiers.

‘Their citizenship should be revoked once they left Australia. The Project panel disappointed me in a big way.’

Other supporters of the Fairfield mayor took aim at Aly’s handling of the interview.

“I think shutting down his valid points was not fair and he and his constituents have the right to a voice,” wrote one.

“I don’t ever hear Waleed Aly or Lisa Wilkinson say they’d love to have these ISIS brides in their neighbourhood … but yeah, western Sydney should,” another wrote.

“Well said Frank, here’s an idea let these people live in Canberra next door to our useless PM,” added another.

“I think The Project needs to be able to press a mute button on guests that keep talking without letting anyone getting a word in. He was missing the point on citizenship,” argued another viewer.

The Project’s Waleed Aly and the mayor of Fairfield, Frank Carbone clashed over the repatriation of ISIS brides and their children in his community. Picture: The Project

Waleed Aly goes head to head with western Sydney mayor

Mr Carbone began his interview on The Project by insisting he was not alone in his concerns.

“They’re not my concerns – they are the concerns of my community. It’s my role as the mayor to express them and to make sure that we’re heard loud and clear,’ he said.

“I don’t think [Anthony Albanese has] taken into account the tens of thousands of refugees that fled their home, had their churches, their homes burned, back in Syria. They’ve lost their loved ones and watched a lot of their families be beheaded and burnt and have come and resettled in western Sydney, and many of them here in Fairfield.”

Mr Carbone claimed there had been a severe lack of consultation with western Sydney communities on the Prime Minister’s behalf.

“All we’re asking is that the Prime Minister come out and consult and talk, to have a discussion with the community, make sure that community is put at ease and make sure that he explains what’s going on,” he said.

“But at the moment, we’re not hearing anything.”

Mr Carbone went on to suggest the ISIS brides had committed treason.

“Treason is when you leave your country and you aid and abet, it doesn’t matter if you’re baking a cake or scones and assisting ISIS, you’re committing treason,” he said.

Aly was quick to interject: “You’d have to convict them and then do that first, though, Frank, and that hasn’t happened.

“You’re talking a lot about kids here, in fact, mostly about kids. Would you leave kids in camps overseas when they are Australian citizens?” he continued.

Mr Carbone then circled back to questioning, “Why western Sydney?”

“Why is it western Sydney? When we have tens of thousands of people that fled ISIS that have traumatic experiences and have very bad emotions. And this is a triggering event for them.” Mr Carbone said.

Kamalle Dabboussy with his daughter Mariam Dabboussy (right) and her daughters Aisha (left) and Fatema Picture: Supplied

After being detained in Syria for over three years, four Australian women and their 13 children arrived in Sydney on October 29 from al-Hol and al-Roj camps in the northeastern Syria region known as Rojava.

Some were wives of Australians who became ISIS fighters and others were taken to the region as teenagers and children by their parents before marrying local men.

They have been resettled in western Sydney, with further repatriations planned to Victoria over the coming months.