Islamic State brides head to Australia: Four women and their 13 kids are evacuated

Four ISIS brides and their 13 children are on their way back to Australia from a refugee camp for IS families in Syria.

The 17 evacuees will stay in Iraq for a short time before touching down in Sydney – marking the first returns since Anthony Albanese’s government reversed a ban on repatriating the family members of ISIS soldiers.

The women and children were removed from the al-Roj camp near the Iraqi border in an operation involving Australian officials and the Syrian Democratic Forces. 

They had been held in the camp in the north eastern Syria region known as Rojava since March 2019, following Islamic State’s last stand in the village of Baghouz. 

The identities of the women have not been released. 

The women and children were removed from the al-Roj camp near the Iraqi border in an operation involving Australian officials and the Syrian Democratic Forces. They are now headed for Sydney 

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The evacuations come after Cabinet’s national security ­committee finalised plans to repatriate more than a dozen families who underwent ‘risk assessments’ following a secret ASIO mission to Syria.

Aussie intelligence agencies believe that leaving Australians in squalid camps may present more of a threat to national security than bringing them back, as their plight could be used to recruit more Australian Muslims to join terror organisations.

It is understood all of those brought home will be subject to intensive monitoring by security agencies and some will face terror charges as it was illegal for many at the time to travel to Syria and Iraq.

‘The Australian government’s overriding priority is the protection of Australians and Australia’s national security advice,’ a spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said on the subject earlier this month.

‘Given the sensitive nature of the matters involved, it would not be appropriate to comment further.’