‘Bring us home,’ says ISIS bride as government dithers, delays ahead of election

A mother stuck in a Syrian detention camp after fleeing Australia during the height of Islamic State has pleaded with Tony Burke to bring her group home for the sake of her injured child.

A child holds an umbrella in the Al Roj detention camp in northeast Syria in 2021. Picture: AFP

A “helpless” Australian mother stuck in a Syrian detention camp after fleeing almost a decade ago at the height of Islamic State has pleaded with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to bring her group home, for the sake of her injured eight-year-old child and the 30 others stuck in detention.

But the Albanese government has been accused of lacking the “political will” as a legal bid to force through repatriation has so far failed, with Australia’s highest court to hear oral submissions this month in a special leave to appeal.

“Stupidity is not a crime, but it is to leave my injured child who has suffered their whole life in pain without medical care,” the mother said, claiming she’d been “brainwashed” after first following a friend to Turkey in 2015. “It’s been six years (in the camps), please help us come back home.”

While the government attempts to shore up support among Muslim voters, it has become “politically concerned” about any repatriation movement before the election, particularly in the seat of Fowler where Labor believes it can topple independent Dai Le.

The Kurdish autonomous administration, which runs the Al Hawl and Al Roj camps, has called for foreign nationals to be repatriated, and the US labelled it the “only solution”.

In 2022, the government repatriated four Australian women and 13 children from Al Roj, where about 30 children of 10 women nationals remain.

The young mother admitted her “stupidity” for travelling to the region and claimed she was forced into marriage in Raqqa, but said it would be criminal for the government to leave her child, who has serious shrapnel injuries, indefinitely in Al Roj without proper care.

“Will the government accept responsibility if the shrapnel paralyses my child?” she said.

Although the group were moved from the more dangerous Al Hawl camp to more “securitised” Al Roj in 2022, mobile phones are banned, a policy strictly enforced with repercussions if breached, and which is why The Australian has chosen to not disclose her identity.

“In 2022, we knew (repatriation) would be in groups, so if we didn’t make it in the first we hoped to go in the second,” the mother said. “But Australia has not come back.”

Mr Burke is already grappling with balancing community expectations on Palestinian refugees with security concerns, but the mother urged for action, even if some of the women, possibly including herself, face charges upon their return.

“Life in the camp has not been easy for children … (they) have seen dogs being run over, children dying, daily gunshots,” she said, adding that she was often separated from her child, who couldn’t read or write.

“(My child) has watched friends leave and asks me: ‘When are we going home, mum’. (Their) dream is to have ice cream with grandpa and adopt a puppy.

“I feel helpless … I’m supposed to be able to help my own child.”

The mother alleged a lack of provisions, such as nappies, medical care, or winter clothes, as well as beatings and being forcibly separated, and – upon their return – wanted to ensure her child gets both the medical attention and educational support needed.

“(The child) has missed so much, I would like to show them how much fun life can be if you are free,” she said.

In July, the Federal Court ruled against an attempt by Save the Children Australia to force the government into action, but the High Court in September will hear oral submissions to re-open the legal bid.

SCA chief executive Mat Tinkler said the organisation took that action “reluctantly”.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in parliament on Tuesday. Picture: Martin Ollman

“We know that the advice of the national security agencies is that their assessments of the families pose no barrier, that families have been successfully reintegrated, that other countries do this regularly, and that the (local) administration wants Australia to repatriate its citizens, co-operating fully when it has done in the past,” he said.

Mr Tinkler said that on each ground – national security, humanitarian and international – repatriation was the only option, and accused the government of dallying after adverse domestic reactions. “They encountered opposition from Peter Dutton and blowback from western Sydney, and they assessed whether they had the political will to undertake more,” he said. “If you’re an innocent Australian child stranded in one of the world’s toughest areas, then your citizenship should mean something.”

Kamalle Dabboussy, whose daughter Mariam and her children were repatriated from Al Roj in 2022, said it had always been “when” not “if” the remaining group would be returned. “The situation has stalled, and we still haven’t been given a reason,” he said. “It appears that the domestic agenda is impacting the safety of these women and children.”

Mat Tinkler, left, and Kamalle Dabboussy in 2019. Picture: David Geraghty

Mr Dabboussy said it would be in everyone’s interest to have the repatriation done before the situation deteriorated.

“There’s no argument for them to remain a day longer there, which runs the risk of losing control over an orderly return,” he said.

“The only other scenario is that they die there, and I can’t believe anyone wishes that.

“The decision (when to bring the families home) isn’t going to be made in Erbil or Damascus, but in Canberra.”

A Home Affairs Department spokeswoman said the government remained concerned with the remaining “Australian-linked” women and children, “constantly reviewing” the situation in an area that was “extremely dangerous” with little diplomatic presence.