SYDNEY, May 7 (Reuters) – A group of Australian women and children linked to the extremist group Islamic State are on their way home from a camp in Syria and are expected to arrive in the country on Thursday night, Australian media reported.
The Australian government said on Wednesday that four women and nine children who had been detained in northeast Syria planned to return to Australia, but would receive no government assistance.
One woman and her child were reported to be on a flight to Sydney from Doha, while another group boarded a flight to Melbourne, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the group’s travel plans.
Australian Federal Police have said some in the group could be arrested and charged on arrival, while others might remain under investigation. The children are expected to enter community reintegration and support programmes.
Some Australian women travelled to Syria between 2012 and 2016 to join their husbands, who had allegedly become members of Islamic State.
Following IS’s territorial defeat in 2019, many relatives of suspected fighters were detained in camps, including al-Hol near the Iraqi border. Some of the Australian women returned home, according to Australian media reports.
In January, the United States began moving detained IS members out of Syria after the collapse of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which had been guarding around a dozen facilities holding IS fighters and affiliated civilians, including foreigners.
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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