Australians Returned to Roj Camp After Failed Damascus Transfer; Albanese Warns of Legal Consequences

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Thirty-four Australian relatives of suspected Islamic State jihadists were forced to return to the Roj detention camp in northeast Syria after an attempted transfer to Damascus collapsed due to coordination problems with Syrian authorities, Kurdish officials confirmed on Monday.

According to camp officials, the group — comprising women and children from 11 families — had initially been released from Roj camp and handed over to relatives who had traveled from Australia to escort them.

The families were seen boarding minibuses bound for the Syrian capital. However, the transfer failed before reaching its destination.

Rashid Omar, a senior official at the camp, said the group was compelled to return because of “poor coordination between their relatives and the Damascus government.” He added that representatives of the families are currently working to resolve the matter with Syrian authorities.

Camp director Hakmieh Ibrahim had earlier described the 34 individuals as “the last Australians in the Roj camp.” He noted that the facility continues to house 2,201 detainees from approximately 50 nationalities.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government would not assist the 34 Australians.

“As my mother would say, you make your bed, you lie in it,” Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). He stressed that Canberra has “no sympathy” for individuals who traveled abroad to support attempts to establish a caliphate, describing such efforts as aimed at undermining and destroying Australia’s way of life.

“It is unfortunate that children are impacted by this as well, but we are not providing any support,” he added.

The prime minister also warned that any Australian citizen who returns and is found to have committed crimes would face the “full force of the law.”

The Roj camp remains under the control of Kurdish forces in Syria’s northeast and primarily houses relatives of foreign jihadists formerly affiliated with the Islamic State group.

Earlier this year, Kurdish authorities withdrew from the larger Al-Hol camp under mounting military pressure from Syrian government security forces, which subsequently assumed control of the facility.

Since that transition in January, thousands of relatives of foreign jihadists have departed Al-Hol for undisclosed destinations. At its peak, the camp held approximately 24,000 people — mostly Syrians, alongside Iraqis and more than 6,000 other foreign nationals.

Repatriation efforts have sparked sustained political debate in Australia, with some lawmakers arguing that returning detainees could pose national security risks.

Conversely, rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have previously commended the Australian government for extracting citizens from what they described as “horrific” camp conditions.

In 2023, Save the Children Australia initiated legal proceedings seeking the repatriation of 11 women and 20 children from Roj camp, intensifying scrutiny over Canberra’s approach to citizens detained in Syria.

Camp director Hakmieh Ibrahim on Monday said the 11 families were formally handed over to relatives who had traveled from Australia to receive them.

“Today, we are handing over 11 families who hold Australian nationality to their relatives, who have come from Australia to collect them,” she told AFP, describing them as the last Australians remaining in Roj camp.

The failed transfer underscores the complex diplomatic and security challenges surrounding the fate of foreign nationals linked to the Islamic State, particularly as control over detention facilities in northeast Syria continues to evolve.