Australians released from Syria camp for IS families return due to 'technical issues'

Thirty-four Australian relatives of suspected Islamic State members had to return to Syria's Roj detention camp due to coordination issues with Damascus after Kurdish authorities released them on Monday, a Kurdish official told AFP.

Camp director Hakmieh Ibrahim had earlier said the women and children from 11 families were handed over to relatives "who have come from Australia to collect them".

An AFP photographer had seen women - some fully veiled, others wearing sunglasses and surgical masks - along with children carrying luggage and boarding minibuses.

They were headed for the Syrian capital, where they were set to depart for Australia, but were forced to turn back due to "poor coordination between their relatives and the Damascus government", said camp official Rashid Omar.

Representatives of the families were working to resolve the issue with Syrian authorities, he added.

Camp director Ibrahim had said "these families are the last Australians in the Roj camp", noting that the facility still houses "2,201 people of around 50 nationalities".

A spokesperson from Australia's department of home affairs told AFP on Monday that the government was "not repatriating people from Syria".

"Our security agencies have been monitoring - and continue to monitor - the situation in Syria to ensure they are prepared for any Australians seeking to return to Australia," the spokesperson added.

"Where Australians returning to Australia have allegedly breached Australian law, they will be, where appropriate, and on a case-by-case basis, subject to law enforcement action."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused help Tuesday for 34 Australian citizens related to suspected Islamic State jihadists.

"As my mother would say, you make your bed, you lie in it," Albanese told public broadcaster ABC.

"We have no sympathy, frankly, for people who travelled overseas in order to participate in what was an attempt to establish a caliphate to undermine and destroy our way of life," he added.

"It is unfortunate that children are impacted by this as well, but we are not providing any support."

Kurdish forces still control the Roj camp in Syria's northeast, where relatives of foreign jihadists are detained.

The Kurds withdrew from the larger Al-Hol camp in January under military pressure from Syrian government security forces, who took control of it.

Since then, thousands of family members of foreign Islamic State members have left that camp for unknown destinations. The facility housed some 24,000 people, mostly Syrians but also Iraqis and more than 6,000 other foreigners.

Repatriation of relatives has been controversial in Australia, where some politicians have claimed they pose a risk to national security.

Others, such as Human Rights Watch, have praised the government for rescuing Australian citizens from "horrific" conditions.

In 2023, Save the Children Australia launched legal action seeking the return of 11 women and 20 children from Roj.