‘The fear is palpable’: Australian women and children trapped in Syria afraid for their lives

Forty Australian women and children trapped in a detention camp in Syria say the conditions on the ground in the war-torn country are deteriorating and they fear the chaos that might follow the overthrow of the central government.

The women went to Syria and Iraq during the rule of Islamic State and were imprisoned in detention camps in Syria in 2019.

The al-Roj camp in northern Syria where the Australian women and children are being held. Credit: Save the Children

The Australian government has conducted only two limited repatriations, in 2019 and 2022, during the five years of relative peace when there was a chance to bring them home.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that there had so far been no change to the government’s policy, despite the change in politics in Syria.

A Department of Home Affairs spokesperson said the government was “closely monitoring the unfolding events”.

In the past week, militants have overthrown the Syrian government, ousting the president, Bashar al-Assad, who has fled to Russia. Turkish-backed fighters have also launched attacks on the district of Manbij, in the relatively stable east of the country, which is controlled by Kurdish forces. Al-Roj, the detention camp where the Australian women now live, is in the Kurdish region about 400 kilometres to the east of Manbij.

A child at the al-Roj camp.Credit: Save the Children

The families’ advocate, Kamalle Dabboussy, whose own daughter and grandchildren were brought back to Australia in October 2022, said the women and children left in the Syrian camp were terrified.

“They are scared for their lives,” Dabboussy said in a statement. “The fear is palpable. Rumours abound in the camp about what is happening. Nobody knows.”

Supplies of food, medicine and fuel for heating had been disrupted and the women were apprehensive about the coming Syrian winter, he said.

“Women also report a reduction in the number of guards who would normally ensure the security and stability of the camps. Now these families are gripped with anxiety about what will happen in the coming days or weeks.”

Save the Children chief executive Mat Tinkler at the camp.Credit: Save the Children

Save the Children Australia chief executive Mat Tinkler said 30 Australian children, most aged under 12, remain trapped in the Roj camp with their mothers.

“For years we have been urging the Australian government to act before it’s too late. The longer the women and children stay there, the more danger they face,” Tinkler said. “We urge the Australian government to arrange for the group’s immediate repatriation before the situation becomes even more volatile.”

The federal government, under the Coalition and under Labor, has been reluctant to move on the issue, and Coalition leader Peter Dutton has been particularly strident in opposition. But the Morrison government brought eight children from one family back to Sydney in 2019, and the Albanese government repatriated 13 children and their four mothers in 2022 without incident.

“Australia’s robust social, national security and judicial systems have the proven ability to carry out these repatriations and reintegration safely – not just for the women and children, but for the entire community,” Tinkler said.

“We should put our faith in these systems to do so again and give these innocent children a future.”

In 2023, Save The Children took unsuccessful court action against the home affairs minister, arguing the Australian detainees were being illegally imprisoned.

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