Secret operation to interview families of Islamic State fighters in Syrian camp

Intelligence officials have travelled to Syria in a secret operation to gather information about the Australian families of Islamic State fighters living in a refugee camp in the country’s north as the federal government weighs up a rescue mission.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal that in late September and early October several officials travelled to the al-Roj camp, where 20 Australian women and more than 40 of their children have been living.

There are believed to be more than 40 Australian children in the al-Roj refugee camp in northern Syria.Credit:Save the Children

The government is now waiting on a report from agencies including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation on whether it is possible to rescue some of them.

There is a particular focus on the cases of young children who need urgent medical attention. This masthead last month revealed the case of a five-year-old girl who has shrapnel in her head, back and hip, which makes it difficult for her to walk and is causing delayed speech and development.

Multiple government sources confirmed Home Affairs and ASIO still considered it too risky to repatriate the former wives or partners of slain or imprisoned IS fighters, and the government has told the agencies it needs a consensus opinion before it considers changing its policy. DFAT has previously said it would “not put Australian lives at risk to extract people from these dangerous situations”.

But the fact officials have visited the camp and agencies have been asked to report back suggests the government wants to find a solution to a problem that has been dragging on for years. Other countries, including Germany, Finland, France and the United States, have repatriated citizens from Syrian camps.

Some of the women, who have been held in Syrian camps for almost three years after being captured in the final fall of the “caliphate” in 2019, are deemed less of a security risk than others because they were coerced into going to Syria by their former partners.

Kamalle Dabboussy, a community advocate and father who has been campaigning to have his daughter, Mariam, grandchildren and other Australians released from the camp, said the government should conduct a rescue operation.

“My daughter was taken at gunpoint. She and my grandchildren shouldn’t have to languish in what are tortuous conditions,” he said. “The government has a duty of care to those children and, I believe, to my daughter.”

Asked by Greens senator Janet Rice in a Senate estimates hearing last week whether any Australian officials had recently visited the camp, Home Affairs first assistant secretary Richard Feakes said: “I’m not aware of any. Certainly no consular officials.”

But multiple government and security sources, as well as family members of some of the women, confirmed to this masthead that Australian officials visited the camp and conducted interviews.

A government spokesperson said it was deeply concerned about the situation in northern Syrian camps.

“We provide support to humanitarian organisations who have experience working in the region to deliver services,” the spokesperson said. “We will not comment further to protect the safety and security of Australian officials in the region.”

Save the Children Australia deputy chief executive Mat Tinkler said it was clearly possible for Australian officials to access the camps and rescue the children.

“The Australian government has run out of excuses and the Australian children in al-Roj camp are running out of time,” he said. “There is no practical or legal barrier, only the lack of political will standing between these children and safety.

“Australia has both a moral and a legal obligation to repatriate these children and their mothers before it’s too late.”

Mr Tinkler said the state of the camps was “dire, with limited access to health services, nutritious food, or safe drinking water”.

“Beyond the threat to their safety and security, many children are suffering from untreated physical and mental health issues,” he said. “This is no place for children.”

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Anthony Galloway is foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via Twitter or email.

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