ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Seven Australian women and 14 children arrived in Damascus from the notorious Roj camp in northeast Syria (Rojava), marking the departure of the last known Australian group from camps housing families linked to the Islamic State (ISIS).
"I just don't know how many of them are going to arrive in Australia," Jamal Rifi, who has been involved in coordinating the return of Australian ISIS-linked families between Damascus and Canberra, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Friday. He confirmed the group’s arrival in Damascus but did not say whether they would return to Australia this month.
Roj camp, located in Hasaka province, is one of the last remaining facilities in Syria housing foreign women and children linked to ISIS.
“Nobody could stop those kids once they reach adulthood from coming back, because they are Australian citizens and they either come now with their mothers or they come later on their own and then into adulthood, [when it would] be even more difficult for our security and agencies to keep tabs on their behaviour, ideology or action," he added.
Earlier in May, another group of four women and nine children returned to Australia after spending years in the camp. According to ABC, three of the women were arrested and charged by the Australian Federal Police upon arrival in Melbourne and Sydney.
Sheikhmous Ahmed, the Kurdish official overseeing refugee and displacement camps in Rojava, told Rudaw in late February that authorities and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had agreed to empty the camp.
“For this purpose, coordination has taken place with the High Commissioner for Refugees regarding their transfer,” Ahmed said. He added that Syrian families would also be returned to their original areas at the request of the Hasaka governor and their relatives.
As of late February, Roj camp housed 730 foreign families from around 42 countries, according to Kurdish authorities. The camp also held 15 Iraqi families and 11 Syrian families, with a total population of approximately 2,225 people.