Australian women, children in Syria file case to force government to repatriate them

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) - A group of Australian women and their children launched a legal bid to force the government to take them home from camps in Syria where they have been stranded for over four years, a rights group said on Monday.

The group of 17 children and nine women filed a legal case in the Federal Court of Australia seeking to be repatriated, Save the Children Australia said in a statement.

The women and their children have been trapped in the Al-Hol and Roj camps in northeastern Syria following the collapse of the Daesh/ISIS terrorists group in 2019.

Subjected to inhumane living conditions in detention camps for more than four years, many of the women involved are either the wives or widows of slain or jailed members of the self-proclaimed Islamic States who either traveled to Syria by force or voluntarily.

Their children, some of whom were born in Syria, are not receiving appropriate care and medical attention, Save the Children said, urging the federal government to intervene.

"These are innocent children who are being punished for the alleged actions of their parents," Save the Children Australia Chief Executive Mat Tinkler said in the statement.

"As Australian citizens, they deserve the same opportunities as every other Australian child. They simply want to come home, attend school, and most of all, feel safe," he added.

During a visit to Roj camp in the northeast of Syria last year, Tinkler said he saw children with untreated shrapnel wounds living with crippling and unmedicated pain.

He witnessed others suffering from acute emotional distress, severe dental decay, stunting, and multiple other health conditions, he added.

Citing the repatriation of 13 children and four women by Canberra in 2022, and eight children in 2019, Tinkler said it shows that Australia is capable of providing its citizens help when needed.

"The repatriations last October raised the remaining children's hopes that they, too, would soon be out of harm's way," he said.

Instead, they feel abandoned by their country and are losing hope for the future, he added.​​​​​​​