Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Karen Andrews,who served as home affairs minister until the May election,said she found the prospect of a rescue mission “very concerning” and considered it an “unnecessary risk”.

She said she decided against such a mission when in government because she wanted to avoid endangering the lives of Australian officials in Syria and feared introducing people who may harbour radical ideas into the community.

“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,” she said.

In 2019,Peter Dutton – then serving as home affairs minister – said some of the people in the camps “have the potential and capacity to come back here and cause a mass casualty event”.

Clarke Jones,a criminologist at the Australian National University,said such rhetoric was “way over the top” and the risks to the Australian community,while not non-existent,were small.

He said the young children,in particular,posed little risk to the community and deserved to live in a safer environment than the dangerous,squalid camps.

“It’s fantastic the new government is moving so quickly on this,” he said.

Jones,who has been working with families of those stuck in the camps on a repatriation framework,said the federal government had invested significant money in countering violent extremism initiatives.

If the system couldn’t cope with a relatively small number of repatriations then the money had been wasted,he said.

He said each of the women and children would need tailored support based on their needs and individual risk profile.

Save the Children chief executive Mat Tinkler,an advocate of expatriation from the camps,said he found the opposition’s claims about the risks involved “very disappointing”.

Intelligent Risks chief executive Neil Fergus said on Sky News he had been told of an alleged plot in which a woman in the camps would lure in Australian officials to either kill them or hold them hostage.

This helped explain the previous government’s reluctance to conduct further rescue missions after organising the evacuation of eight children from the camps in 2019.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said some of the mothers in the camps had been taken to the Middle East when little more than children themselves and married off to IS fighters. Others had been tricked,she said.

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie said the repatriated children will need “intensive psychological treatment” after their arrival in Australia.

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