Jihadi families must be monitored

Many Australians, understandably, share the objections of Peter Dutton and opposition home affairs spokeswoman Karen Andrews to the repatriation to Australia of former brides and children of Islamic State fighters. Four women and 13 children who recently arrived from secure detention camps in Syria are now under police surveillance. They were deemed low-risk by ASIO and have signed legally enforceable agreements to co-operate with authorities. While the women made bad decisions to travel to the caliphate in the first place, although some may have been coerced by their spouses and families, they remain Australian citizens. Other nations, including the US, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland and Sweden, have had to face the same responsibilities.

The families present a security challenge. But Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil raises an interesting point when she says there is nothing legally to be done to change the fact that the women and children have a permanent right to obtain Australian passports and re-enter the country. “The question is whether it is safer for these children to grow up in a squalid camp, without education and health, where violent radical ideology is a part of their daily lives,” she says on Saturday. “Or whether it is safer for them to grow up here, around Australian values.” That will not be foolproof given family and community influences and the time they have spent with Islamic State already. On balance, they could be a bigger danger after more years being radicalised by Islamic State if they later decided to come to Australia when they turned 18.

Some people will find the humanitarian arguments on the issue compelling. But Ms O’Neil says domestic security is her consideration. That is why not all the women will be repatriated and why those who have returned have undergone detailed individual security assessments. These included examination of extended families, acquaintances, social media footprints and past communications. They are being monitored by the Joint Counter Terrorism Taskforce, comprising NSW and Australian Federal Police.