Australian officials do not want women and children allegedly linked to the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group to return to the country, but the threshold has not yet been reached to ban them from receiving passports.
About 34 women and children linked to Australians who had traveled to the Middle East to fight for the terrorist group have been there trying for days to travel home from a Syrian refugee camp.
The cohort has been issued Australian passports, a right granted to citizens, but one of the women has been given a temporary exclusion ordersubject to their re-entry for a maximum of two years.
Home Secretary Tony Burke said security services had not passed on any advice that would prevent the group from receiving the required travel documents to return to Australia.
“There is no advice from ASIO that the provisions of the Passports Act have been triggered,” he told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.
“Based on the information we have, the best way to protect Australians does not involve further temporary exclusion orders.
“We don’t want them to come back… we’re actively making sure we don’t do anything to help them.”
The 34-person cohort was not a cohesive group, Burke added, but enough information was available to issue the sole exclusion order.
“We know the different individuals, we know the state of mind and the effective ideology of different individuals,” he said. “Our agencies have been following them for a long time.”
Noting that the majority of the cohort were born in Australia, the Minister confirmed that state and federal agencies have been working together to mitigate the potential risks of their return.
Burke also rejected claims in a report in the Sunday Telegraph which claimed official preparations were underway for the cohort’s return.
“That report claims we are conducting a repatriation. That is not the case,” Burke said.
“It is alleged that we have had meetings with the states with a view to a repatriation. That is not the case,” Burke added.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government had not been in contact with any member of the cohort, but threatened charges would be laid if they return to Australia.
“Australian citizens have rights and also responsibilities, and those responsibilities mean that the Australian government, like anyone else, will apply the full force of the law to anyone who has broken Australian law,” he told Sky News.
“Does Australia provide repatriation, which did take place in 2019 and 2022? No, is the answer to that.”
Labor has been under pressure from the opposition to prevent the entire group from entering Australia, but Albanian said his government was operating under laws introduced by the coalition.
“When it comes to the issue of citizenship, it also has rights under our Constitution,” the Prime Minister said. “There are problems there and the coalition knows this is the case.”
Opposition defense spokesman James Paterson reiterated that the government must do more to stop the arrival of the cohort.
“It is very clear that the government can refuse a passport to an Australian citizen if advised by a competent authority such as ASIO or the AFP if an individual poses a threat to security,” he said. “Denying their passports would remove that security threat.”
Granting a temporary exclusion order to one of the cohorts meant further orders could be granted, Paterson added. “Those powers have to be used and this government seems very reluctant to use them,” he said.
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