PM rules out help for ISIS fighters

Scott Morrison has ruled out government help for returning Australian foreign fighters fleeing the remnants of Islamic State.

The Australian woman believed to be Zehra Duman, centre holding her daughter, with aid workers from the Free Burma Rangers in Syria.

Scott Morrison has ruled out government help for returning Australian foreign fighters fleeing the remnants of Islamic State, telling them to accept ­responsibility for their actions.

Amid mounting reports of numerous Australians emerging from refugee camps of northern Syria following the collapse of ­Islamic State’s self-styled cali­phate, the government is under increasing pressure to deal with returning foreign fighters and their families.

The Prime Minister said ­people who joined Daesh “have placed their ­children in this horrendous position”, and any terrorist supporters would face the “full force of Australian law” if they did ­return home.

“Now they have to take ­responsibility for those decisions to join up with terrorists who are fighting Australia. I’m not going to put any Australian at risk to try to extract people from those situations,” Mr Morrison said.

“They have made their decisions. If they are Australian citizens, well, there is a process for us to deal with them under Australian law and they will face the full force of Australian law should they be in a position to try to come back to Australia.”

The comments follow a public plea from an Australian woman, believed to be Zehra Duman, 24, from Melbourne, that she be ­allowed to return home with her two-year-old son and six-year-old daughter.

The three were interviewed by the ABC at al-Hawl refugee camp in northeast Syria.

“Both of my kids are sick,” she said. “(My daughter is) very malnourished, she’s … very skinny.

“I have no money, I’m not ­allowed to have money. They don’t give us food here and they don’t let us contact our families.”

Ms Duman married fellow Melburnian Mahmoud Abdullatif. He was killed in battle in 2015, just months after they wed.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton also ruled out helping former Islamic State fighters.

The comments rebuff the ­demands of the Kurdish-led ­Syrian Democratic Force and the US for Australia to repatriate its foreign fighters from former battlefields in the Middle East.

There is a chance that new laws, which would delay the re-entry of Australian terrorists on to home soil and place them on parole when they do eventually come back, will not pass parliament before the election, despite Mr Morrison spruiking their benefits this week.

A spokeswoman for Mr Dutton said Australia “cannot facilitate the safe passage of people out of the conflict zones”.

Mr Dutton said Australia would make considerations for the children of foreign fighters. “Anyone attempting to ­return to Australia, including children, will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. The welfare and needs of children would form part of these considerations,” he said.

Attorney-General Christian Porter said if Ms Duman ­assumed Australia would ask diplomats or soldiers to assist her in leaving Syria, she would be “gravely mistaken”.

Additional reporting: Paul Maley