Two ISIS-linked women and seven children arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday night, May 26, as part of a larger group of seven women and 12 children returning to Australia from refugee camps in Syria.
The women and children were escorted from Melbourne Airport through a side exit, where scuffles broke out between photographers and supporters waiting to meet them.
Footage showed Abraham Abbas, brother of previously returned woman Kawsar Abbas, striking a photographer’s camera during the confrontation.
A separate flight carrying four women and six children landed in Sydney, while counter-terrorism officers in both states searched belongings and examined electronic devices belonging to the returnees.
Authorities confirmed none of the women in the latest group had been charged upon arrival, but investigations remain ongoing.
In a joint statement, police said: “No one arriving within this cohort has been charged, however, investigations into the activities of Australians who travelled to Syria – including those who have since returned – are ongoing.”
Among those returning to Melbourne was Kirsty Rosse-Emile, who travelled to Syria from Victoria in 2014. A relative waiting at the airport rejected the label of ISIS bride, saying: “She is not an ISIS bride. She’s a victim.”
The second woman to arrive in Melbourne, Kawsar Kanj, is understood to have returned with her five children. Four other women, Nesrine Zahab, Sumaya Zahab, Aminah Zahab and Hyam Raad, were expected to arrive in Sydney.
Another woman, Hodan Abby, remains in Syria after being barred from re-entering Australia under a Temporary Exclusion Order.
The arrivals reignited political debate, with Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan saying anyone found to have broken the law “will face the full force of the law,” while Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said many Victorians were “appalled” by the return of people who had travelled overseas to support a terrorist organisation.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed the group had travelled from Syria via Damascus and Doha and said the government had not assisted their return.
“These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation,” Burke said, adding that any returnees who committed crimes could expect to face “the full force of the law.”
The latest arrivals follow an earlier cohort this month, during which Kawsar Abbas and her daughter Zeinab Ahmad were charged with four enslavement offences relating to allegations involving Yazidi women in Syria, while another returnee, Janai Safar, was arrested upon arrival in Sydney.
Source: The Advertiser.
