The return of some of the Australians may be controversial in Australia. It will likely pose a challenge to the country’s security organisations,according to sources speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to comment publicly.

There may not be enough evidence to charge all the adults with terrorism offences,so some may be free in the community and require monitoring by Australian authorities. The government could also charge some with intentionally entering Raqqa or Mosul,which were the capitals of the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq,and where it was illegal at the time for Australians to travel.

Authorities are also able to apply to a court for control orders to monitor their behaviour. The deradicalisation of children raised in appalling circumstances may also be a significant challenge. However,ASIO,other security agencies and anti-terror experts have argued that leaving children in the camps could increase the danger of them becoming radicalised and recruiting Australians online in future.

Shadow home affairs minister Karen Andrews expressed doubt about the safety of the mission,saying:“The protection of all Australians - including in Australia - should be the government’s number one priority.
“Labor needs to assure Australians that individuals who may have been radicalised pose no threat upon their return to Australia - and explain the efforts they’re going to undertake to monitor and rehabilitate these individuals.”

A number of the women were children themselves when taken to Syria or Iraq by their families,and others say they were duped into travelling. Dabboussy has previously said his daughter wastricked into going to the Syrian border while on holiday in Turkey in 2015. After being taken into Syria at gunpoint,her husband went to fight with IS and died three months later,just before the birth of her second child.

Save the Children chief executive Mat Tinkler,who visited the al-Roj camp in June,said the repatriation effort would be “very welcome news” for the children and their mothers in Syria.

“The possibility that they could finally be brought home to safety in Australia will be an enormous boost for their families,” he said.

“For more than three years,these children have been trapped in one of the worst places in the world to be a child and their situation has been growing increasingly desperate ... They are just hanging on.”

Tinkler said the Australian children in the camps are poorly nourished,suffering from untreated shrapnel wounds and their mental health was rapidly deteriorating.

In 2018 the Morrison government organised the rescue of eight children from the Syrian camps,but it refused to launch a broader effort,despite the pleas of the Kurdish authority which is in charge of north-eastern Syria,and which has offered to help Australian authorities with the extraction.

Elaine Pearson,executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division said:“Facilitating the return of these Australians arbitrarily detained in camps in north-east Syria is long overdue.”

The Australian government has persistentlyrefused to bring the women and children back. As Home Affairs minister,the now Opposition leader Peter Dutton said in 2019 the women posed a terror risk and suggested DNA testing would be required to verify their Australian citizenship claims. He also cited the safety of Australian officials.

“It is an incredibly dangerous situation and the government has been very clear that we aren’t going to put defence personnel or DFAT personnel or home affairs personnel in harm’s way to provide support to these people,” Dutton said at the time.

However,a number of other countries,including the United States,which has brought back 39 people,France,Belgium and Central Asian states,have repatriated their citizens from al-Hawl and al-Roj. In 2020 the government of Uzbekistan completed the repatriation of 98 people,including 25 women and 73 children.

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