Western Sydney mayors reject being ‘dumping ground’ for ISIS brides

Islamic State brides and their children will continue to be repatriated but will be settled in the suburbs in which their families live, the government said after an outcry from western Sydney mayors.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil, left, with western Sydney mayors on Friday. Picture: AAP

Islamic State brides and their children will continue to be repatriated but will be settled in the suburbs in which their families live, the Albanese government has said after an outcry from western Sydney mayors.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil met with western Sydney community leaders on Friday, alongside security officials and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, in an attempt to allay fears over the return from Syria of wives and children of former ISIS fighters.

Ms O’Neil and Mr Bowen – who is a local member – assured the mayors the families would not be settled in Fairfield.

“The assumption that people are being settled in a particular place like Fairfield is not necessarily correct,” Mr Bowen said.

Fairfield Mayor Frank Car­bone welcomed the news that ­repatriates had not been settled in his community

“I am very comfortable from our discussions that we have not had any resettled in Fairfield,” he said. “It has been made very clear to me that they will go where their families are, and it has been really clear to me that after this discussion that western Sydney will not be used as a dumping ground.

“That means that if families are in Melbourne, they will be repatriated to Melbourne. They will be repatriated to Perth, Queensland, wherever those families may be.”

NSW Minister for Western Sydney David Elliott, criticised Ms O’Neil for failing to invite him. “I’m a bit miffed that Clare O’Neil is meeting with western Sydney mayors about ISIS brides – albeit dragged kicking and screaming – but didn’t bother asking the Minister for Western Sydney, who just happens to be the former minister for counter-terrorism,” he said. “Here is a woman from extreme Melbourne privilege who dumped extremists into unsuspecting communities as far away from her electorate as is possible.”

The federal government’s hands were tied by an obligation to return Australian citizens, the ministers told the mayors.

“These are Australian citizens,” Ms O’Neil said. “The Australian government has a choice: we can bring these people back to Australia to be managed in a way where we can make sure the community is kept safe, or we can see these people return after a bunch of Australian children have grown up in a camp where they are subjected every day to radical ideology.”

Ms O’Neil defended her lack of contact with the mayors in the almost four weeks since repatriations began. “We have made a ­decision on national security grounds,” she said. “It should be fairly obvious why we are not able to talk about that publicly before the decision was made. The important thing today was that we have met.”