Key Points
- The group of women and children have been held in Syria's al-Roj refugee camp since 2019.
- ASIO boss Mike Burgess says their return raises no immediate concern.
A group of Australian women and children linked to the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group are expected to soon arrive in Australia, with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) confirming some will be arrested when they touch down.
The federal government on Wednesday morning confirmed 13 members of the Australian group "have made plans to travel to Australia".
It maintains it has not provided the group, consisting four women and nine children, with any assistance to return home.
SBS News understands the group is expected to arrive on Thursday night.
The cohort is part of a larger group of 34 women and children who have been held at the al-Roj detention camp in northern Syria since 2019, when the IS group collapsed.
The women are often referred to as 'ISIS brides', given their perceived or real links to IS group fighters.
"The government has not and will not provide any assistance to this group, which consists of four women and nine children," a government spokesperson said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese repeated his stance that returnees suspected of committing crimes would face "the full force of the law".
"These are people who've made what is a horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and have placed their children in an extraordinary situation," he told reporters.
"As we've said many times, any members of this cohort who have committed crimes can expect to face the full force of the law, and that will occur."
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) chief Mike Burgess said the group's return raised no immediate concern and there would be no change to the national terrorism threat level.
The group left the al-Roj refugee camp by bus in late April, after Syrian interior forces picked them up and took them to Syria's capital of Damascus.
The government has long said that anyone in the group who is alleged to have committed a crime will be charged on arrival in Australia.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, AFP commissioner Krissy Barrret refused to confirm how many people will be arrested.
"Some individuals will be arrested and charged, some will face continued investigations when they arrive in Australia," she said.
"And children who return in the cohort will be asked to undergo community integration programs, therapeutic support and countering violent extremism programs."
Barrett said the cohort has been monitored since 2015, with national security investigators and analysts collecting information for over a decade about potential offences committed in Syria.
She said these included terrorism offences such as "entering or remaining in declared areas and crimes against humanity offences, such as engaging in slave trading".
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said there are "very serious limits" on preventing a citizen from returning to their home country, except for temporary exclusion orders (TEO).
A TEO is a temporary ban on an individual re-entering the country based on national security grounds, with Burke reiterating he promptly acted on such advice in February, when he issued one ban on a woman in the broader cohort.
Opposition home affairs spokesperson Jonathon Duniam again urged the government to prevent the cohort's arrival in Australia.
"I say this government has one last chance before these people board planes back to Australia to revoke their travel documents, to apply temporary exclusion orders. Australians are not feeling safe now, we know that," he told reporters.
"If there is a chance to stop them, we should do everything we can to stop it."
Members of this group's extended family have been trying to help them return to Australia, with a failed attempt in February.
They have consistently said the women will comply with any legal directions and Australian law once they touch down.
The government has faced intense scrutiny over the group, who are Australian citizens, with questions raised about the level of consular assistance being provided.
Burke said the government has maintained a hard line to "do nothing to assist".
"The government's complete lack of support for these individuals is a direct reflection of the decisions," he said on Wednesday.
"The Australian government is not repatriating people from Syria," the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement to SBS News.
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