ROJ CAMP, Syria (AP) — Thirteen Australian women and children departed a Syrian detention facility on Friday in a second effort to return to their homeland, following a previous unsuccessful repatriation attempt earlier this year.
Journalists witnessed the group leaving Roj camp, a isolated detention center located close to Iraq’s border that holds relatives of individuals suspected of Islamic State connections. The families traveled by bus with a Syrian government official escort.
According to Lana Hussein, a representative from the Women’s Protection Units within the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that oversees camp security, the families’ departure was coordinated with Syria’s central government in Damascus.
Hussein indicated the families would spend approximately 72 hours in Damascus before being “deported under security procedures.”
Neither Syrian foreign ministry officials nor Australian government representatives immediately provided comments when contacted.
An earlier effort in February to bring 34 women and children back to Australia from the same facility was halted when Syrian officials turned them back. Australian officials stated at that time they would not facilitate the families’ return, and the government subsequently issued a temporary exclusion order preventing one woman from re-entering the country.
Officials have not confirmed whether Friday’s new attempt involved coordination with Australian authorities.
While Roj camp sits in northeastern Syria under Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces control, the Australians had intended to fly from Damascus.
Camp administrators previously stated that family members of the returnees, rather than Australian officials directly, had organized the planned repatriations.
Following the Islamic State’s territorial defeat in Syria during 2019, former fighters from various nations along with their spouses and children were detained in multiple camps and facilities across northeastern Syria. Despite their defeat, the organization continues operating through sleeper cells that conduct fatal attacks throughout Syria and Iraq.
The larger al-Hol camp has since been shuttered, while the U.S. military transferred thousands of suspected IS fighters previously detained in Syria to Iraq for trial proceedings.
These developments followed January clashes between government troops and the SDF, during which government forces captured significant SDF-controlled territory. The resulting turmoil led to numerous detainee escapes from al-Hol and prisoner breakouts from detention centers.
Australian authorities have previously facilitated the return of Australian women and children from Syrian detention facilities on two separate occasions, while other Australians have returned independently without government assistance.
