Brides of ISIS need DNA tests to return, says Peter Dutton

Peter Dutton says ‘there is no question’ the return of ISIS brides would lead to an increased terror risk.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. Picture: AAP

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says “there is no question” the return to Australia of ISIS brides in Syria would expose Australians to an increased risk of terrorism and DNA testing would be required to verify their citizenship claims.

The warning comes after The Australian revealed the results of a special Newspoll indicating that 59 per cent of voters did not believe that women and children in refugee camps should be allowed to come home.

Speaking on 3AW radio on Tuesday, Mr Dutton said returning foreign fighters were behind attacks in Paris, Brussels, the US and Asia.

“Some people will face arrest if they do get back to Australia because we’ve been able to gather enough evidence in relation to them,” he said.

“Others we just don’t know the level of threat. There are others who, on the advice from the agencies, pose a very significant threat. That is, there is a probability of them committing a terrorist offence if they return to Australia. That is who we are dealing with.”

Mr Dutton said DNA testing would also be needed to verify the claims of Australian citizenship made by ISIS brides.

He acknowledged that it was “very difficult to see how these people can come back”.

He said the government did not know how many women and children were being held in Syria but warned that their identities and background would need to be thoroughly examined if they were to come home.

While some claimed to be Australian, he argued that it was sometimes hard to prove. “We don’t know whether they are (Australian citizens). You would need DNA testing and you’d need other checks to be made,” he said.

“But this is an incredibly dangerous situation and the government has been very clear that we aren’t going to put Defence personnel or DFAT personnel or Home Affairs personnel in harm’s way to provide support to these people.”

Labor assistant spokesman for financial services and the republic Matt Thistlethwaite told Sky News on Tuesday that the government should look to repatriate citizens “where it is safe to do so”.

“Where it is safe to do so we believe that if there are Australian citizens then governments should make all attempts to return them safely to Australia and if it’s ­appropriate to deal with them under Australian laws,” he said.

Mr Dutton said his advice from ASIO and other intelligence agencies was that “some of these women are as bad as any male combatants, terrorists that they’ve seen over there”.

He warned that bringing some of the ISIS brides back home would mean that other Australians would be exposed to an increased risk of terrorism. “There’s no question about that,” he said. “I want to be in a position where I can keep Australians safe … it’s even more difficult to impossible on the advice from the agencies now for us to go into that zone.”

Liberal backbencher Dave Sharma also weighed in on the ­debate on Tuesday, telling ABC news that the Australians detained in northern Syria shouldn’t be ­extracted from a situation of their own making. “I think the situation they’ve found themselves in, and in some cases put themselves in, depending on their individual circumstances, is one we never would have advised or counselled them to do,” Mr Sharma said.