The Australian Human Rights Commission’s President and Commissioners for children and women’s rights have called on the Australian Government to support efforts to enable 34 Australian women and children held in the al-Roj camp in Syria to return to Australia.
The Australian women were previously linked to the Islamic State terrorist group. While they have been issued Australian passports, the 34 women and children are being denied support from the government to return to Australia from the camp in northeast Syria where they have been held for the last 7 years. This is despite the successful repatriation of other Australian women and children from the camp by the Morrison Government in 2019 and the Albanese Government in 2022.
As a signatory to UN conventions protecting the rights of women and children as well as civil and political rights, the Australian Government has obligations to protect and uphold the rights of these Australian citizens. These rights include the right to return to their country, to the presumption of innocence, to a fair trial and for the best interests of children to be the primary consideration in all actions concerning them.
Commission President Hugh de Kretser: ‘The Australian women and children in the al-Roj camp are being denied basic rights.
‘The bedrock principle of human rights is they apply to everyone. The Australian Government should respect the rights of these Australian women and children to return. It should prevent further harm to them by supporting their return.
‘Any security concerns can be appropriately dealt with by our existing mechanisms here. Successive Australian Governments have already successfully repatriated citizens from the camps as have many similar countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.’
National Children’s Commissioner Deb Tsorbaris: ‘The children who are being refused government support to return to Australia are trapped in a nightmare that was not of their making.
‘Whatever decisions were made by their parents, they had no say in the matter. To condemn innocent young Australians to a life of misery in a violent and squalid camp where their futures wither away and where their rights to health and education are violated is heartbreaking.
‘The Australian Government needs to quickly find a compassionate solution that allows these blameless children to come back home and grow up in peace and stability, and with opportunity.’
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody: ‘Some of these women and mothers were teenagers when they were groomed and coerced by men in the Islamic State movement.
‘We can’t ignore the pressure they experienced and how this would have impacted their decision-making, if indeed they had any say in key decisions.
‘The rights of these women as Australian citizens should not be in question, otherwise the rights of any and all Australian citizens could potentially be at risk. All Australians should be able to have confidence in our rights as citizens and the Australian Government should act accordingly.’’
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