Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has refused to answer whether Australia was aware that its refusal to repatriate a cohort of Australians linked to ISIS from war camps in northeast Syria was causing mounting frustration in the US government.
Nine Newspapers reported this week that a February letter from the US Department of State outlined that America wanted to “press countries to repatriate, especially in light of recent developments in the region”.
“I see that the Australian government has dug in on its opposition to repatriating them from the camp,” a US official wrote.
That month, 11 families – or 34 women and children – had attempted to leave the Al Roj camp after receiving Australian passports, only to be turned back about 50km into their journey by Syrian authorities.
“I can only imagine how frustrating their return to (al-Roj camp) is,” the US official wrote.
Asked if Australia had been kept in the dark about this US criticism, Ms O’Neil told Seven’s Sunrise on Tuesday: “I’ll let the US Government speak to their actions and views.
“The Australian government has a very clear position on this. We do not support the repatriation of this group of people, and we have not facilitated or assisted their return to Australia.
“What we have said is that we support our national security agencies and our federal police throwing the book at these people.”
Ms O’Neil was also grilled on a Sky News report revealing at least two of the four ISIS-linked women expected to travel to Australia in coming days would be arrested upon their arrival.
“I’m certainly not going to confirm what the actions of police are going to be,” she said.
“What I can tell you is the government’s been very clear … our strong view is that they should be held accountable for their actions, and we will allow national security agencies and police to do their excellent work that they do, protecting the community.”
Four women and nine children who were previously trapped in al-Roj camp are due to depart Damascus in coming days after securing plane tickets home.
They left the detention camp on Saturday in co-ordination with security forces and had previously received passports through prominent western Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi.
