The Australian men who travelled to Syria to return 34 ISIS-affiliated women and children to Australia had presented “valid documents and passports for the families”, the detention camp director has confirmed.
In an exclusive interview in Arabic with this masthead on Tuesday, camp boss Hakamia Ibrahim said: “We photographed the families’ passports and made copies. I personally saw the passports and obtained copies of them – this is a security measure.”
Ibrahim declined to show the images to a journalist working for this masthead, but authorities in the north-east of Syria have always required valid travel documents before families can be released from the camp.
Ibrahim also said that, since the women were turned around on the highway and returned to the camp on Monday, it was unclear if they would obtain permission to travel at all.
The confirmation that Australia has issued passports appears to fly in the face of comments by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday that the government “won’t be providing assistance” to the women.
The government is not officially involved in the attempt to bring them home, but sources have confirmed the “family repatriation” has been organised by western Sydney doctor, Jamal Rifi. Rifi is a key community supporter of Labor Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in his western Sydney electorate.
Sources with knowledge of the situation, but who are not authorised to speak publicly, referred to the passports as “single-use-only” documents.
Rifi’s brother, Ashraf, is an influential political figure in neighbouring Lebanon. Jamal Rifi, who is in the Middle East helping facilitate the transfer, has not responded to requests to comment.
The three men who came to the camp on Monday and took the women and children out said they were part of the team involved in the family operation.
However, the women were turned around about 50km from the camp and sent back.
Ibrahim said there had been “no official statement from either the Syrian or Australian government explaining why they haven’t received the Australian families”.
“There is still no clarity on whether the Australian families will be allowed to travel or not,” she said in the interview.
“Naturally, the Australian families were disappointed, especially since they were ready to travel and had a strong desire to start a new life. The hopes of the women and children have been shattered.”
Albanese in the past has acknowledged that the government must issue passports to Australian citizens, and on Monday alluded to this, saying: “Australian law applies and there are obligations that Australian officials have.”
A senior foreign affairs department official also told an estimates hearing last week that “any Australian who meets eligibility requirements is entitled to a passport, and those requirements go to citizenship and identity”.
Security issues were a separate matter, the official said.
Albanese’s “very firm view,” about denying assistance to the families, which he expressed in interviews on Monday, prompted Opposition leader Angus Taylor to ask a series of questions, which remain unanswered by the government.
“Are any of these ISIS-linked individuals coming back to Australia? Are passports being processed, or will they be?” Taylor asked.
“What specific security assessments have been or will be undertaken, and has the government used or even considered using its temporary exclusion order powers?”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has not responded to requests for comment and a spokesperson for the department said it could not comment on individual cases.
The opposition has called for the government to impose temporary exclusion orders on the women to prevent them from returning to Australia.
Burke has said these would only be issued on advice from security agencies, which is constantly updated.
The orders are part of counter-terror legislation, and allow the home affairs minister to stop someone outside Australia from entering the country for up to two years.
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Michael Bachelard is a senior writer and former deputy editor and investigations editor of The Age. He has worked in Canberra, Melbourne and Jakarta, has written two books and won multiple awards for journalism, including the Gold Walkley.Connect via X or email.