Australian families released by SDF forced to 'head back' to camp in Syria
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) released a group of Australians from al-Roj camp in northern Syria, which holds families of suspected Islamic State (IS) members, for repatriation before the Syrian government stopped the transfer, ABC News reported on Monday.
Thirty-four Australians, including women and children, were escorted by Kurdish-led SDF forces towards Damascus, from where they planned to travel to Australia, but were "forced to head back" to the camp after the Syrian authorities' intervention, the Australian broadcaster said.
Australia's government denied any involvement in the repatriation attempt of its citizens, saying that it "is not and will not repatriate people from Syria".
"Our security agencies have been monitoring - and continue to monitor - the situation in Syria to ensure they are prepared for any Australians seeking to return to Australia," the federal government said in a statement.
"People in this cohort need to know that if they have committed a crime and if they return to Australia, they will be met with the full force of the law," it added.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
None of the Australians in al-Roj has been charged with a crime. Some of the children were born in the camp, while others were brought to Syria by their families at an early age.
This is not the first chaotic release of people suspected of having IS links by the SDF, which currently administers al-Roj camp.
According to a ceasefire agreement between the Syrian government and the SDF on 30 January, all detention camps and prisons are to be handed over to the Syrian authorities.
As the Syrian government recaptured large swathes of northern Syria from the SDF in January, it accused the Kurdish-led group of deliberately releasing detained IS members in an act of "political blackmail". The SDF has denied the claim.
Female detainees in al-Roj camp told Middle East Eye that women and children had suffered mistreatment, including beatings, during nightly raids by security forces ahead of the handover.
They were forced out of their tents, stripped of warm clothing and doused with water in freezing temperatures during the nightly raids, one female detainee said.
More than 2,000 people from around 40 countries are detained at the camp. The majority of them are women and children.
The US military last week completed a mission to transfer 5,700 male IS detainees from Syria to Iraq.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
