An adult temporary exclusion order has been issued to a group of 34 Australian women and children held in a Syrian detention camp, banning them from coming to Australia for up to two years.
But the rest of the group is not estimated by intelligence agencies to have reached the threshold to be banned from Australia, paving the way for the wives and children of Islamic State fighters to re-enter the country if they can make it back on their own.
Facing another day of pressure on families of IS fighters killed or captured, Anthony Albanese maintained his government was doing nothing to help or repatriate them. Asked about reports the government had issued passports to the group, the Prime Minister insisted it was simply “enforcement of Australian law”.
“We are not providing any assistance to these people and will not provide any assistance to these people, but we are not breaking Australian law,” Albanese told a press conference.
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On Monday night, 34 Australian women and children left the al-Roz camp in north-east Syria, having been released by Kurdish authorities to return to their homeland in Australia.
But they had to return because of “poor coordination between their relatives and the Damascus government,” a camp official told Agence France-Presse. The Guardian understands the Australian government has not organized their return to their home country and it is unclear whether the group have their travel documents.
Nine newspapers reported that a worker at Al-Roz camp saw Australian passports in the group’s possession.
Guardian Australia reported on Tuesday that Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke was seeking advice from security agencies on whether to make any subject to a Temporary Exclusion Order (TEO) applicable to Australian citizens who the minister “reasonably suspects” of preventing a terrorist act or supporting a terrorist group.
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Burke confirmed a TEO had been issued, but others in the group were not expected to meet the required threshold. He did not provide the age or gender of the person subject to the exemption order, but Guardian Australia understands it applies to adults.
“I can confirm that one person in the team has been issued a restraining order, which was framed on the advice of the security agencies. At this stage the security agencies have not advised the other members to meet the legal thresholds required for restraining orders,” he said.
Shadow Home Affairs Minister, Jonno Duniam, questioned the decision to raise the TEO level on just one person.
“If only one minister is claiming [cohort] If it is deemed dangerous enough to warrant an interim relief order, then it raises more questions than it answers,” he said in a statement.
“[This group] All traveled to the same ‘declared area’ for the same reason, supporting the same listed terrorist organization – how can only one member of this group be considered a danger and the rest be okay anyway?
In a Sky News interview, Duniam suggested equating TEOs against the entire group and said the opposition would support changing the laws to lower the threshold for applying an exclusion order.
Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, expressed concern about the children of women subject to the exclusion order, who would have to travel in the care of other women in the group or stay with their mother.
He also noted that the exclusion order would compromise the women’s ability to travel outside of Syria, including to the camp, potentially compromising their ability to cancel the TEO in the future.
Burke said in his statement that he was unaware of the movements of Sydney doctor Dr Jamal Rifi, who media reports said was helping the team. Burke said he only saw the information in media reports. He said Rifi had not discussed any travel plans with him and “had no reason to.”
The Guardian made attempts to contact Rifi.
Asked earlier in the day whether exclusion orders would be made against the group, Albanese said the government was taking security advice and “will do what we can to keep Australians safe within the law”.
“We will enforce the law to its full potential,” he said.
“These people, I said yesterday, you make your bed, you sleep in it. They want to go abroad to align themselves with a brutal, reactionary ideology and an ideology called the Caliphate that seeks to undermine and destroy our way of life. Selected people. So, we will do anything to help or bring back these people.”
Albanese acknowledged that it was “unfortunate” for children to be caught in this situation, but added: “It’s not their decision, but it’s their parent’s or their mother’s decision.”
Asked about reports the group had Australian passports, Albanese replied: “Australian law enforcement, that’s what’s happening.”
