Albanese victimisation of ISIS brides and innocent children is appalling

independentaustralia.net · Mar 1, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Despite languishing for years in an atrocious conditions, Australia's PM belligerently refuses to rightfully repatriate wives of ISIS fighters or their innocent children. James May comments. I voted Labor at the last Federal election but I am reconsidering my support after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made repugnant comments about the Australian women and children trapped in Syrian displacement camps. Eleven women and 23 children have languished in the Al Roj refugee camp in north-east Syria for almost + years. The squalid camp has been home to thousands of people who were displaced after the United States and its Coalition forces defeated Islamic State in 2019. Many women who travelled to the region were assumed to be motivated by ignorance and coercion. They have been described by a United Nations official as "victims of terrorism”. Anthony Albanese and his Government are refusing to bring them back to Australia. The Prime Minister said, “if you make your bed, you lie in it", and “I have nothing but contempt for these people”. His mean-spirited comments show a dark side to the man — and it shocks me. Many of the women have no desire to stay in Syria and they want to come home. They are not accused of any crimes, nor have they faced trial or been given a fair hearing by authorities in Australia. Amnesty International says conditions in the camp are dangerous, with inadequate access to food, water and health care. Human Rights Watch said the camps are deteriorating, with nightly raids and violent beatings. Hundreds of children have died from malnutrition, disease and exposure since being taken to the Syrian camps in 2019. Save The Children has long campaigned for the Australian Government to repatriate the families. CEO Mat Tinkler said, "these innocent children have already lost years of their childhood, and deserve the chance to rebuild their lives in safety at home”. Both the current Labor and recent Coalition governments have claimed it’s too dangerous to send Australian officials to the region. This is disputed by Greens MP David Shoebridge, who travelled to Syria to meet the families last month. “The administration in north-east Syria is very open to providing secure escorts and assistance,” he said. The hardline stance of Anthony Albanese is astounding. Even conservatives like former Prime Minister Scott Morrison had the compassion to bring at least some children home in 2019. The current Prime Minister is clearly terrified of the ramifications after the Bondi massacre and tensions over the ill-timed visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The Australian Government has the resources to bring these people home and manage security concerns, but it’s afraid of backlash from the Opposition and the electorate. Once again, Muslims are collateral damage in "a race to the bottom", as our politicians talk tough and scrounge for votes. These women and children are Australian citizens. They have languished in miserable conditions for almost a decade. We can’t wash our hands of them, like we did with the thousands of refugees we detained and abused in hellholes like Manus Island and Nauru. The Australian Government procrastinated like fools and waited for other countries to help those people, and some of the politicians who enforced that awful policy are presiding over this violation of human rights too. According to Al Roj officials, the Labor Government has offered some women single-entry passports and left them to their own devices. It’s not good enough. Sarah Sanbar, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: "... countries whose nationals are involved need to step up and repatriate them in a coordinated, safe, and dignified way. Women and kids should not be left to navigate smuggling routes and shifting front lines on their own.” Now the Coalition is demanding that Temporary Exclusion Orders (TEOs) be slapped on the women and children to prevent them returning. It’s no surprise from a Coalition that’s on life support and trying to claw back votes from One Nation. Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese claims that “Pauline Hanson is appealing to the dark forces of our nature” and “he wants to appeal to light, optimism and unity”. His weasel words make my stomach churn. The hostile attitude on all sides of politics, to the women and children in Syria’s camps is fuelling Islamophobia. Since the Bondi massacre, the Muslim community has reported a rise in abuse, including repeated threats of violence against the Lakemba mosque in Sydney. The Australian Government should’ve brought these people home years ago. Letting them rot in those camps was reprehensible and dangerous. It left them exposed to illness, hardship and radicalisation. U.N. Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights Professor Ben Saul said any security risks would be more effectively managed if the women and children were returned to Australia: "This is a small group of people. It's not beyond the capacities of our law enforcement agencies to deal with the risk. Once you get back in Australia, if you've done anything wrong, you can be prosecuted under any of Australia's very extensive terrorism offences." It’s outrageous Australian women and children are still trapped in these filthy camps after seven years. I’m amazed they’ve had the courage and strength to survive. The political situation in Syria is volatile and conditions in the Al Roj camp are horrendous. They need to get out now. Other countries have repatriated many of their citizens and we must do the same. These families have suffered enough. Anthony Albanese is a heartless coward if he lets them perish or find their own way back. James May is a freelance writer and his work has appeared in The Guardian, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and Canberra Times. Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.