Australia won’t repatriate 34 women from Syria

The Australian Government will not repatriate from Syria a group of 34 women and children with alleged ties to the Islamic State group, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday.

The women and children from 11 families were supposed to fly from the Syrian capital Damascus to Australia but Syrian authorities on Monday turned them back to the Roj camp in northeast Syria because of procedural problems, officials said. Only two groups of Australians have been repatriated with Government help from Syrian camps since the fall of the Islamic State group in 2019. Other Australians have also returned without Government assistance.

Albanese would not comment on a report that the women and children had Australian passports.