Reports emerged on Monday that two dozen Australians had left a detention camp in eastern Syria with the intention of driving to Damascus and then flying to Australia by way of Beirut. It was not entirely clear why these particular Australians were suddenly in the spotlight.
Until mid-January, tens of thousands of ISIS-linked families were housed in two large camps in Syria, in addition to several thousand male ISIS prisoners in two dozen detention facilities in that country.
There has now been a rapid change in Syria. Most of the ISIS detainees had been captured in 2019, when ISIS was defeated in its last enclave, near the Euphrates River, by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
When the ISIS “caliphate” fell to the SDF, a large number of ISIS fighters and their families surrendered. This may have included some 50,000 people, including women and children from some 60 countries. Most of the women and children ended up at Al-Hol and Roj camps in eastern Syria. The SDF maintained security at the camps, but on the whole, the families were left to do as they pleased inside the camps.
When the SDF began to clash with the Syrian transitional government forces in January, the camps suddenly became unsettled. As the SDF withdrew, Damascus sent Interior Ministry forces to secure the camps and prisons, although not all of those ended up in the hands of the Syrian government. Instead, there was a degree of chaos.
US Central Command then scrambled to remove the worst ISIS prisoners from Syria, with around 7,000 being moved to Iraq. These were men from some 60 countries, including 13 Australians, according to a document in Arabic distributed on social media. The women and children remained behind in Syria – including around 30 Australians, perhaps more.
Thousands of these women and children are either Syrians or Arab speakers from neighboring countries. However, some of them are foreigners. Among them are some children who had been kidnapped by their parents and taken to Syria because those parents backed ISIS. Some of the children were born over the last decade.
ISIS camp uncertainty in Syria leaves Australians stranded
Most of the foreigners joined ISIS back in 2014, when ISIS held a huge part of Syria and Iraq and was involved in a genocide against the Yazidi minority in Iraq.
There is suspicion that some of the adult women who joined ISIS are perpetrators of crimes against humanity, such as holding slaves and even killing people. However, most of them have not been investigated. Iraq is now investigating the thousands who CENTCOM transferred.
In Syria, meanwhile, some chaos still reigns. While thousands of ISIS-linked families appear to have left the Hol camp, there are others in the Roj camp. On February 16, those with Australian citizenship or travel documents were permitted to leave the camp and board mini-buses. Everything seemed normal. The women, wearing large sunglasses – and one with what looked like brand new red headphones – sat happily in the vehicles.
However, it appears that at some point during the transfer from areas still run by SDF-linked local security to areas run by the Syrian government, there was a problem. Arab News has shown footage of the 34 Australians – whose relatives may have journeyed to meet them.
Levant24, a local media outlet, said the 34 Australians returned to the Roj camp after they were unable to reach Damascus.
“Kurdish forces, who remain in control of Al-Roj camp, escorted the convoy and relayed the decision ordering the families back,” the report said.
“Australian authorities had reportedly already issued passports to the families, preparing them for travel.” However, the report also said that Australia would not repatriate people from Syria. Authorities also “warned [that] returnees would face the full force of the law.”
Levant24 noted that “Director of Al-Roj Camp, Hakmiyeh Ibrahim, urged Australia and other countries to ‘take your citizens,’ warning that the situation is becoming more complicated over time.”
Regional media have been focused on the odyssey of the Australians in Syria. Al-Arabiya noted that they were stranded.
Al-Ain media in the UAE noted that “Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that the government would not help any Australians – living in a Syrian camp holding families of suspected ISIS terrorists – to return home, adding that the government was prepared to prosecute them if they did return.” It also reported that “the released Australians, some of whom are children, are expected to travel to Damascus before eventually returning to Australia, despite objections from MPs from both the ruling party and the opposition.”
The story of the Australian women and children is symbolic of the larger problem in Syria. While some experts have expressed concern that women and children are leaving the camps in Syria, many governments also refuse to take their citizens back. This leaves the people in limbo.
Some argue that these extremists might now be a threat or seek to radicalize others. By keeping them in Syria, many countries are passing the buck and, in essence, dumping the problem on the new Syrian government. Some have also argued that Syria isn’t secure enough to hold the male prisoners, which is why they were taken to Iraq. This appears to be a catch-22, where Damascus is perceived as not to be relied upon to hold ISIS members, but is also told that ISIS members can’t go back to their countries.
This was the same catch-22 the SDF found itself in back in 2019 when ISIS members surrendered. The excuse for keeping them in eastern Syria was that countries argued the SDF was not a “government” and they couldn’t repatriate the people.
While Damascus has been widely recognized now, the 90-nation anti-ISIS coalition has no clear process for dealing with the ISIS members.