Australia charges ISIL-linked woman after she returns from Syria | ISIL/ISIS news

This story follows the return of women and children who were held for years in Syrian camps without trial.

Australia has charged a woman with alleged links to the Islamic State group (ISIS) after returning from Syria, as authorities step up searches for people returning home from prison.

Police say the 34-year-old arrived in the country in September with another woman and is due to appear in court in Melbourne on Thursday. He is accused of being a member of a “terrorist” group and entering the battlefield.

Police Federal Assistant Commissioner Hilda Sirec said that all these crimes can lead to 10 years in prison.

Sirec said the woman went to Syria in 2013 or 2014 and was later arrested by Kurdish forces in 2019 before being detained in al-Hol camp with her family.

Officials announced the charges as scores of women and children returned to Australia this month after years in the Roj camp in north-east Syria, where families of ISIL fighters have been held since 2019 without a legal process.

Officials said all officials who have returned home are being investigated.

“A period of time without charges does not indicate that the investigation is over,” Sirec said.

Between newcomersThree women are facing other charges, including civil offences.

Police have also charged Kawsar Ahmad and Zeinab Ahmad, a mother and daughter who arrived earlier this month, with slavery-related charges.

Another returnee, Janai Safar, has been charged with entering the country after declaring that he had joined the ISIL group.

Pa the height of his power in 2015, the territory controlled by ISIL across Syria and Iraq, is almost the size of the United Kingdom.

Officials believe the latest batch arriving in Sydney and Melbourne includes the remaining Australians who were already at Roj’s camp.

The repatriation has sparked a political row, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying the government did not help them return home and warning, “If you make your bed, sleep in it.”

Human rights groups argue that Australia should preserve the right of its citizens to return, especially for children who, they say, should not be held responsible for their parents’ actions.