Oct. 29 () –
The Australian authorities have begun this Saturday the repatriation of 60 women married to fighters of the Islamic State jihadist organization, as well as their children, all of them so far detained in the Roj camp, in northeastern Syria.
The first four women and their 13 children arrived in Sydney this Saturday in the first phase of this initiative, considered by the Australian authorities to be an extremely sensitive process.
The Roj camp, like the Al Hol camp, houses, among other people, women and children who lived in areas controlled by the Islamic State, from which they were expelled during the military campaigns to end the territorial domination of the caliphate.
Both are distinguished by their high level of violence and the presence of jihadist fighters who keep an indoctrinated population threatened. For this reason, the authorities will interrogate the wives (or widows) of the jihadist fighters about their activities in the detention camp, reports the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’.
Save the Children has applauded the return of women and children. “For more than three years, they have been trapped in squalid camps, where many of them lived in uninsulated tents in extreme climates, with limited access to nutritious food, no formal education, and inadequate health care,” the NGO laments.
“The Australian Government has done the right and fair thing for these innocent children and their mothers. They have given these children hope for their future and have placed their trust in the strength of Australia’s judicial, resettlement and national security systems to support their safe integration into Australian society,” says Save the Children Australia Executive Director Mat Tinkler.
The NGO is now ready to assist state child support services and work with families to ensure these children receive the support they need to resettle into the Australian way of life.
