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How 'ISIS brides' and their children are being resettled back in Australia
The wives and children of fighters for the self-proclaimed Islamic State group have started returning to Australia. This is what we know about the repatriation operation so far, and what one expert says is essential to their resettlement.
Published 5 November 2022 7:37am
By Charis Chang
Source: SBS News
Image: Kamalle Dabboussy's daughter and grandchildren have now returned to Australia. (Supplied / Kamalle Dabboussy)
It's been a week since four women and 13 children arrived back in Australia from Syria, welcomed with open arms by those who spent years praying and campaigning for their safe return.
The group arrived in Sydney last Saturday and released a statement saying they were deeply thankful to be back in Australia and expressing their regret for the trouble and hurt they had caused to their families.
But the repatriation operation - mostly conducted in secret - has also sparked concern in others.
Who are the women?
For years the women and children had been living in an internally displaced people camp in northeastern Syria following the 2019 fall of the self-proclaimed Islamic State group (IS). Their husbands have either been jailed or killed while fighting overseas.
They include mother-of-four Shayma Assaad, 22, who was just 15 when her parents took her to Syria. Her husband Mohammed Noor Masri has been jailed by Kurdish authorities, as has her father Ahmad Assaad. Shayma's mother Bessima Assaad and two sisters also returned to Australia.
Kamalle Dabboussy with his daughter and grandchildren in Syria in 2019. He went public with their story as he campaigned for their repatriation. Credit: Kamalle Dabboussy
Most of the children were born in Syria, meaning they'll be seeing Australia for the first time.
Kamalle Dabboussy, who previously said his daughter Mariam was tricked into travelling to Syria with her husband, said it had been an emotional homecoming.
"It was hugs and tears and it was a very, very emotional moment," he told SBS News. "It's hard to put in words exactly what are you feeling at that point in time, but intense joy."
Mr Dabboussy has been a vocal advocate for bringing the women and children back to Australia, releasing a book last year about his fight and sharing photos of his daughter and grandchildren with the media.
What have the women and children experienced?
Criminologist Dr Clarke Jones of the Australian National University acknowledged the fears around the return of the women and children saying, "you'd be naive to say there's no risk involved in bringing the women in".
But Dr Jones, who has forged strong links with Muslim communities in Australia as part of his doctorate on countering violent extremism, said very few of the so-called "ISIS brides" had gone over to Syria with the intention of fighting, unlike their husbands.
He said he knows some of the families involved, whose children and grandchildren were in the camps, and heard conversations between them.
"Some are well adjusted and have connection through mobile telephones and have maintained connection," he said.
"We might find that they settle in quite well, but I would argue that some of them won't, not from a security perspective, but from a mental health challenge and post-traumatic stress. It really depends on what they've experienced and what they've encountered."
The al-Roj camp in Syria. Source: Getty, AFP / Delil Souleiman
"Then you had security conditions where tents were burnt down, women were raped, there were stories of kidnapping, it was a terrible environment for anyone, particularly terrible for children," he said.
Settling back into a normal environment would be challenging for some of the women and children, Dr Jones said, considering the violence they had experienced over a prolonged period of time, and that could affect people in different ways.
This could include negative perceptions of men who were not family members, because of their experiences.
"All men they've seen, they've either been killed, or the women have been involved in rape or sexual assault," he said.
"So the adjustment to have men around is going to be a challenge, there's quite a number of gender issues."
What security measures will surround the women?
Nine News reported the four returned women would not be forced to wear an ankle bracelet or be the subject of 24-hour police supervision as they had not been charged and there was no basis for it. But the women have agreed to be the subject of voluntary orders.
“We are willing to do whatever is asked of us by government authorities to ensure the safety of our families and the Australian community and we will fully co-operate with all Australian law enforcement agencies,” a statement from the women said.
The previous Coalition government repatriated eight children and grandchildren of two dead IS fighters in 2019 but resisted pressure to rescue any more of the women or children because it believed they were a risk to the community.
"I made a decision based on the intelligence that I received at the time: these women shouldn’t come back to Australia," Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said this week.
"That was the advice from ASIO [Australian Security Intelligence Organisation], the advice from the Australian Federal Police, from the Australian Defence Force. We had a very significant discussion – multiple discussions – on NSC [National Security Committee] during the time that we looked at this issue.
"We made the decision that we wouldn’t do it and I don’t believe that this government should do it either."
The most recent move comes after at least nine countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France and Denmark all brought their citizens home from Syria.
The Albanese government confirmed a rescue plan was in place for 16 women and 42 children who are families of IS members earlier this month. The first cohort removed from Syria were assessed as the most vulnerable.
What has the reaction been to their return?
Mr Dutton has been critical of the lack of detail available about the return of the women and children, and said that community members weren't consulted prior to the decision being made.
Some have expressed concern about the risk the group could pose if they had been radicalised in the camps.
"No excuse for them to go there and then to come back here. No excuse," one member of the public told SBS News.
"Do you think it's safe to bring them back? I don't think so."
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has expressed concerns about the return of the women and children. Source: AAP
"The community is saying we always want to support those that want to be a part of us, not those that want to turn their backs against us and fight against us. So the community is concerned."
"We have community members who are actually refugees who have been persecuted - they've had their homes burnt, family members killed, and they were persecuted and ran away from ISIS. So I think this traumatises them and brings a lot of bad memories for them."
We want to support those that want to be a part of us, not those that want to turn their backs against us.- Frank Carbone, Mayor of Fairfield
Mr Dutton also suggested there had been delays in bringing back some of the women and children who are expected to be resettled in Victoria due to the Victorian election on 28 November.
"If you doubt that politics is involved in this decision, well, don’t forget that the Prime Minister’s made a decision to bring people in but he’s holding them somewhere in a hotel at the moment until they can arrive in Australia after the Victorian state election," he said.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has dismissed that suggestion as "absolute nonsense". Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes also told reporters: "I can't understand why that would be a factor".
Mr Dutton also said the government should explain what security measures were in place.
"As the Australian Federal Police Commissioner pointed out to Senate estimates not too long ago, it takes about 300 police officers during the course of a year and almost $4 million to monitor one individual they have a significant concern about," he said.
A Department of Home Affairs spokesperson told SBS News the Australian Government did not comment on the circumstances of individuals due to privacy considerations.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said the women and children had been returned to Australia after security assessments. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
She said allegations of unlawful activity would continue to be investigated by the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team, and any identified offences may lead to law enforcement action being taken.
"At all times the focus has been the safety and security of all Australians as well as the safety of those involved in the operation," she said.
Speaking with the ABC on Friday, Ms O'Neil called Mr Dutton's latest criticism of the repatriation "disgraceful".
“It is rank hypocrisy because the Liberals did exactly the same thing in 2019; repatriated a group of people from these camps,” she said.
“For some reason, they are now saying this is not appropriate to do. People are sick of this kind of politics.”
At all times the focus has been the safety and security of all Australians.- Clare O'Neil, Home Affairs Minister
Charities and human rights organisations have also welcomed the return of the women and children, including Save the Children Australia, the Australian Council for International Development, UNICEF Australia, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam Australia, Amnesty International Australia, Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Australian National Imams Council, Islamic Relief Australia, Islamic Council of Victoria, Plan International Australia, and the Human Rights Law Centre.
"It is fantastic these children have been brought back home," Australian Council for International Development chief executive Marc Purcell said.
"We should never be in a situation where Australian children are punished for the decisions of their parents and denied access to Australia."
They have also urged the government to repatriate more than 30 other women and children still stuck in the camps in Syria.
Will their repatriation be a success?
Dr Jones said the integration of the women and children back into Australian society would not be straightforward but it was possible and it had been done in other cases with success.
"Ideally, the most important thing is that families have the lead role or the main say, in what happens to their family members," he said.
"Certainly with all the communities I've worked with, the role of the family and extended families is huge."
Dr Jones said he had developed a preventative framework with suggestions made to the Albanese Government on what he believes could help the women and children to readjust to life in Australia, to avoid anti-social behaviour.
The framework, which was developed with cultural and religious sensitivities in mind, is aimed at providing wrap-around care for the individual, he said. The emphasis is on trust and developing a supportive network.
It considers issues of appropriate accommodation, child protection, legal support, religious support and guidance, the provision of initial psychological first aid, health and mental health support, and the delivery of specific intervention services if and when required.
Dr Jones believes a welfare approach, rather than a security approach, is better for social inclusion and cohesion.
"I think the government's looking at it from a national security approach and I think you've got to understand the government on that because there's a lot of concerned people about this," he said.
But Dr Jones said a high police presence could be quite damaging to the communities these people live in, and to the young people themselves. He said it was important people still felt valued in society.
"With the children, if they don't feel valued by society, then you do get them becoming more isolated, marginalised," he said. "You've got a greater chance of problems occurring at a later stage."
"Areas that are highly policed can have a negative effect on children, where they feel that they are always seen as suspicious, he said.
"I would argue that it almost generates crime because it makes kids gang together, and group together and resist authority. I see the same thing in prisons."
If the children don't feel valued by society, then you do get them becoming more isolated, marginalised.- Dr Clarke Jones
Dr Jones said the women and children had already been isolated and ostracised for years in the camps.
"Some kids have been born in the camp, and that's all they know. This is a very complex situation that requires a lot of flexibility," he said.
Dr Jones' framework also involves identifying positive influencers around the person, which could be family, or if not, authorities should ensure they had access to the right community support.
For example, Dr Jones said he had seen the community provide access to education so that one terrorist offender was able to do a carpentry course, and now runs his own successful business and employs other young people.
"Trust is the number one thing," Dr Jones said. "If you don't have trust in a program, it doesn't matter whether it's this or any type of intervention, if trust is not part of the equation, then the program is not likely to succeed."
It's not clear yet whether the government will use Dr Jones' framework but he hopes the women and children will get the support they need while also addressing the fears in the community.
"You've got to consider the way people feel and be able to reassure them that, [an attack is] not going to happen," he said.
- Additional reporting by Lin Evlin, Claire Slattery and AAP.
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