Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government will not help repatriate the 34 Australian women and children with links to Islamic State fighters who were released from a detention camp in Syria and are reportedly trying to return to Australia.

The women and children were among more than 2,000 people from 50 different countries detained at al-Roj camp in Kurdish-controlled northern Syria. The Australians were turned back by Syrian officials when trying to reach Damascus this week, with the goal of returning to Australia.

The Albanese government’s stance on the Australian women and children in Syria has never really been clarified, which is fuelling all of this uncertainty at the moment.

There’s a precedent for repatriation

Australia has demonstrated it can repatriate its citizens safely when it feels compelled to. In 2022, for example, it helped repatriate four women – the wives and widows of IS militants – and their 13 children from al-Roj camp in Syria.

It has also acknowledged that if citizens return independently from conflict zones, security agencies are capable of investigating and managing any risks.

Yet, it has not established a permanent framework for when and how such returns should occur.

Instead, Australia continues to rely on ad hoc decision-making shaped by individual circumstances, rather than a solid plan. This case-by-case approach has produced uneven and opaque........

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