In ‘nation’s interest’ to bring Isis brides home: experts

Violent extremism experts have accused the opposition of ‘fear mongering’ over the repatriation of four Islamic State linked women and their children, arguing that their return to Australia was in the country’s national security interests.

Former director of countering violent extremism in NSW Youth Justice Peta Lowe. Picture: Jane Dempster/The Australian

Violent extremism experts have accused the opposition of “fear mongering” over the repatriation of four ISIS-linked women and their children from Syria, arguing their return is in Australia’s national security interests.

Peta Lowe, who was previously director of countering violent extremism in NSW Youth Justice, said the women and 13 children were Australian citizens who had the right to return to their home country.

“As a country we would like to think that we live our values and that means we don’t pick and choose who we give human rights to,” she said.

“It also makes us different to the people we’re fighting against, and I think that is really important: we are not the same as terrorist organisations and extremist groups who do pick and choose who they apply rights to; we don’t want to be the same as them.”

Ms Lowe said it was vital the children and their mothers – many of whom were taken to Syria by their parents and husbands as children themselves – were not “marginalised” or “isolated”.

“I’m not supportive of the fear mongering that is happening at the moment,” she said.

“In 2019 we brought orphans home from that exact same camp and that was under the watch of those politicians who are now quite openly criticising the current government’s move to do this.

“I don’t think our national security is an area we should be politicising and it’s within our best interests to bring these women and children home.”

The comments come amid a widening political divide as the opposition criticises the Albanese government for the decision, with Liberal MP Michael Sukkar questioning the government’s “priorities” for bringing them home and putting them under surveillance at great expense.

Michael Sukkar. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

The four families landed in Sydney on Saturday and will remain in a secure hotel until they are reintegrated into the community. The women have consented to being under surveillance if required, and it remains unclear if any of them will face criminal charges for their actions in Syria.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute head of counter-terrorism Katja Theodorakis said it was in the nation’s “security interests” to bring them home from indefinite detention.

“Appeals to the public on national security grounds, citing concerns for the safety of Australians, the community being put at risk or otherwise negatively affected should be carefully substantiated, rather than a repeat of political talking points from an earlier era,” she said.

“Assessing risks is a dynamic process and we should be able to trust our security agencies that they take their duty very seriously.

“We need to widen our understanding of security and recognise that a possible resurgence of IS in Iraq and Syria is very much linked to what happens in the camps and detention facilities in northeast Syria. It’s in our interest to do something about it.”

Employment Minister Tony Burke has stood by the government’s decision to evacuate the women and children from a detention camp in Syria, saying it was based on the “best national ­security advice”.