A Liberal senator has called for \u201cmercy\u201d for the 23 Australian children detained in a Syrian camp, as he warned that leaving the group to languish in detention risked making the situation worse for them and the Australian community in the future.<\/p>\n
After the opposition leader, Angus Taylor<\/a>, this week suggested the children held in al-Roj camp were \u201cIsis sympathisers\u201d, the backbencher Andrew McLachlan again broke from party lines to appeal for compassion and a resolution to their ongoing plight.<\/p>\n The group of 23 children and 11 women<\/a> \u2013 the wives and widows of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters \u2013 has been at the centre of a domestic political furore since their failed attempt to leave the camp<\/a> in north-east Syria in late February.<\/p>\n The Albanese government is refusing to assist their repatriation and has expressed \u201ccontempt\u201d for the women, while conceding it has few options to prevent the Australian citizens from returning home. One woman has been issued with a temporary exclusion order that prevents her entry to Australia for up to two years.<\/p>\n The Taylor-led opposition argues the government could do more to prevent their return and has drafted legislation that would make it an offence to assist the group.<\/p>\n The group has no immediate prospect of flying out of Syria, which has shut its airspace after the US and Israel\u2019s bombing of Iran<\/a> reignited hostilities across the Middle East, leaving them in limbo.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n In a speech to parliament, McLachlan acknowledged the situation was a \u201cconsiderable ethical dilemma\u201d for the parliament and the country.<\/p>\n But amid the increasingly incendiary debate, the South Australian said: \u201cI\u2019m going to inject one concept that has not been spoken about, and that\u2019s mercy for the children.\u201d<\/p>\n The Guardian last week spoke with several young children<\/a> at the camp, including six-year-old Layla, an Australian girl born in the camp who imagined Australia as a place with \u201can ice-cream shop\u201d and where Bluey and Bingo live.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not think it is weak or backing away from the protection of our own people to have some regard for these children, for they are the affected innocents from their parents\u2019 tragic attraction to a horrible ideology,\u201d he said. \u2018I think it is incumbent upon us all in public life to sometimes leave behind the binary and confront, head on, a difficult and intractable dilemma.\u201d<\/p>\n In a subsequent statement to Guardian Australia, McLachlan did not explicitly call on the federal government to repatriate the 34 women and children as it did for another group of IS-linked families detained in Syria in 2022.<\/p>\n However, he warned that if the children\u2019s circumstances were \u201cnot actively managed\u201d then \u201cwe risk making the situation worse for both them and the Australian community into the future\u201d.<\/p>\n The argument that leaving the children to languish in the camp would heighten the risk of radicalisation \u2013 and in turn increase the risk to Australia when they returned in the future \u2013 was used by Labor MPs<\/a> to defend the 2022 repatriation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also must have a mature public discourse about how we support, where necessary, their deradicalisation and reintegration into society. Ignoring this poses significant risks to our security,\u201d McLachlan said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe circumstances of each adult needs to be assessed to manage a pathway forward weighing public safety and finding a sustainable resolution keeping in mind these Australian women have not been charged with any crime.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is vital the government is open and transparent with the public about their preparations.\u201d<\/p>\n McLachlan has emerged as an often lone voice inside the Coalition appealing for a softer tone on immigration, having previously rebuked his colleagues\u2019 use of the phrase \u201cmass migration\u201d<\/a> as \u201cinflammatory and unhelpful\u201d.<\/p>\n