A Syrian official has shared concerns that a group of Australian women and children with alleged links to the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group could be at risk of radicalisation if not allowed to return.
Khalid Ibrahim, a senior official with the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, which oversees the al-Roj camp where the cohort have lived for the last seven years, told SBS Kurdish that responsibility for their futures rests with Australia.
"Since they are Australian citizens, the Australian government is responsible," he said.
"Women, children, their citizens, they must be followed up on, according to international law, according to Australian law; they must know these citizens of theirs, they must know where they went, why they went, where they are going, what their goal is."
The group of 23 children and 11 women, who family members of IS fighters, were taken to the camps after the fall of the IS group caliphate in 2019.
They have been preparing to return to Australia, but last week were turned around and brought back to the camp due to what local authorities said were "technical reasons".
Ibrahim said the women and children's futures were uncertain in the camp, and shared fears for what would become of them if they were not repatriated or moved to another state.
"Children are innocent. If a country does not take care of them, we are afraid that they will become radicals and become members of a new terror, continue their war in another way and unfortunately, people don't know what will happen," he said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has insisted the government will not assist the 34 women and children — who are Australian citizens — in returning, and said they will face the full force of the law if they return.
He said he has "nothing but contempt" for the women who travelled to Syria amid the rise of the IS group.
'Difficult' conditions in detention camp
Al-Roj is home to more than 2,500 women and children. The women are often referred to as "ISIS brides", given their perceived or real links to fighters of the IS group.
The northeastern part of Syria, where al-Roj camp sits, was governed by Kurdish forces but is now under the control of the Syrian government, following the fall of former leader Bashar al-Assad and the withdrawal of US support for the Kurdish forces.
Ibrahim said the conditions inside the camps were "really difficult"; devoid of opportunity, with management at capacity.
"It is not a normal life ... Their daily life is difficult, their daily needs are difficult. We are also in the middle of a war. We've just come out of 14 years of war. International organisations are gradually reducing their aid; they can't extend it any longer."
Australian government won't help stranded women and children
The Australian government has carried out two successful repatriation missions since the IS group was toppled in 2019.
The Morrison government brought back eight orphaned children in June 2019, while the Albanese government repatriated four women and 13 children in October 2022.
But the bid by the women has become a hot political issue in Australia, with a government spokesperson insisting it "is not and will not repatriate people from Syria", in a statement.
Prominent western Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi, who has been working to help repatriate the group, told SBS News that while they remained hopeful, the negative political rhetoric had affected negotiations with Syrian authorities.
"We feel we're making some inroads with the Syrian government right now, who see the humanitarian aspect of what we are doing, they sympathise with us," he said.
"But unfortunately, the rhetoric from the prime minister in Australia put them off, and we're trying to convince them otherwise and to help those innocent children in the camp."
Ibrahim questioned Australia's choice to leave responsibility for the women and children under his country's care.
"We are very far from Australia. What enmity is there between us and the Australian people? There are thousands of kilometres between us, there are seas and oceans between us."
He said Syrian authorities saw it as a "humanitarian duty, a moral, legal duty" to assist the people in the camps, even though he believes Syria does not bear responsibility for their situation.
"[IS brides] came here, to this land, this geography, to establish an Islamic state, they left their country and came to endure hardship and war and the consequences of this war to establish an Islamic state. We think the Australian government is responsible. They must be taken care of."
This story was produced in collaboration with SBS Kurdish.
For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.
