Two passenger jets carrying Australian women and children with alleged links to the Islamic State group landed in Australia on Thursday. One flight arrived in Melbourne with three Australian women and eight children aboard; a separate aircraft later touched down in Sydney with a woman and her son.
Both Qatar Airways flights departed Doha within minutes of each other, bound for Australia’s two largest cities: QR904 landed in Melbourne first, followed shortly by QR908 in Sydney.
The arrivals followed an Australian government announcement that the group, who had spent years in a Syrian desert camp, would be returned to the country. Authorities say the women may face criminal charges related to their alleged activities in IS’s self-declared caliphate across parts of Syria and Iraq.
Australian police have been probing potential involvement by nationals in atrocities committed in Syria for more than a decade. Investigations cover a range of serious allegations, including terrorism offences and crimes against humanity such as the enslavement of Yazidi women.
Deakin University extremism researcher Joshua Roose said investigators are examining abuses carried out inside the caliphate, including the use of sexual slavery and strict enforcement of sharia-based punishments. “Some of the worst forms of violence were in fact enacted by women, so we need to understand that it’s a problem,” Roose told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The Australian government has publicly criticized women who traveled to Syria to support IS militants and had previously declined to assist with repatriation. Humanitarian and child welfare groups have urged a different approach once children are back in Australia.
Save the Children Australia, which lost a 2024 court bid to force the government to repatriate citizens from Syrian camps, said the welfare needs of the returned children must now be the priority. Chief executive Mat Tinkler noted that children make up about two-thirds of the cohort in question and called for efforts to help them resume normal lives.
Australian authorities have previously repatriated women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions, and some nationals have returned to Australia without direct government assistance. The recent arrivals are expected to be processed by security and child welfare services as investigations continue.
