Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed an exclusion order had been taken out against the individual, who is an Australian citizen and part of a group of 34 women and children from 11 families who are seeking to leave Syria and return to Australia.
“I can confirm that one individual in this cohort has been issued a Temporary Exclusion Order, which was made on advice from security agencies,” Burke said.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said he acted on the advice of security agencies. (Alex Ellinghausen)
“At this stage security agencies have not provided advice that other members of the cohort meet the required legal thresholds for temporary exclusion orders.”
The Department of Home Affairs declined to comment, saying it was unable to discuss individual cases.
The group had attempted to leave a camp in north-east Syria and travel to the capital Damascus, where they would then try to return to Australia.
However, an hour after leaving, they were turned around by authorities.
Hakmiyeh Ibrahim, the camp’s director, said the planned repatriations were organised by family members of the returnees, who had travelled from Australia to accompany them, rather than directly by Australian authorities.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed he and his government would not be providing any support to the group in their efforts to return to Australia.
“We won’t repatriate them,” Albanese told ABC radio.
“The government was taken to court by one of the non-government organisations, saying that we had a responsibility, and they weren’t successful in that.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his government are refusing to help the Australian citizens return home. (Eddie Jim)
Cabinet Minister Amanda Rishworth echoed the Prime Minister’s sentiments.
“Our security agencies are monitoring the situation in Syria, but there won’t be assistance from the Australian government,” cabinet minister Amanda Rishworth told Today.
“They made a choice to go to Syria.”
Most people in the Roj camp are women and children with alleged links to Islamic State, though many are not prisoners or have not been accused of a crime.
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