Australian authorities on Saturday began the repatriation of 60 women married to Islamic State jihadist organization fighters, as well as their children, all of whom have so far been held in the Roj camp in northeastern Syria.
The first four women and their 13 children arrived in Sydney on Saturday in the first phase of this initiative, considered by Australian authorities as an extremely sensitive process.
The Roj camp, like Al Hol, houses among others women and children who were living in Islamic State-controlled areas from which they were expelled during military campaigns to end the caliphate’s territorial rule.
Both are distinguished by their high level of violence and the presence of jihadist fighters who keep an indoctrinated population under threat. For this reason, the authorities will question the wives (or widows) of jihadist fighters about their activities in the detention camp, reports the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’.
Save the Children has applauded the return of the women and children. «For more than three years, they have been trapped in squalid camps, where many of them lived in uninsulated tents in extreme climates, with limited access to nutritious food, no formal education and inadequate medical care,» the NGO laments.
«The Australian Government has done the right and just thing for these innocent children and their mothers. They have given these children hope for their future and placed their trust in the strength of Australia’s judicial, resettlement and national security systems to support their safe integration into Australian society,» says Save the Children Australia executive director Mat Tinkler.
The NGO is now ready to assist state child support services and work with families to ensure these children receive the support they need to resettle into the Australian way of life.
