Returning from the Ruins of the Caliphate

Published: 26 May 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.

A group of Australian women and children held in Syria since the defeat of Islamic State have arrived in Melbourne and Sydney. This dramatic development brings an end to seven long years of indefinite detention while simultaneously thrusting the returnees into a heated political debate about their future. Federal police confirmed they made no immediate arrests upon arrival which stood in stark contrast to the swift apprehension of three women returning from Syrian camps earlier this month. The newly arrived cohort consisted of twelve children and six women who left a Syrian detention facility last week before finally boarding flights home. Most of the adult women left Australia more than a decade ago to join the self-proclaimed caliphate. Several of the children were subsequently born in Syria or Iraq after their parents travelled to the conflict zone.

A flight carrying two women and their children arrived safely in Melbourne just after four thirty on Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile another flight carrying four women and their children arrived in Sydney from Doha about an hour later. The women who landed in Melbourne chose to leave the airport through a private side door. This strategic exit occurred around two hours after landing which successfully evaded most of the awaiting television cameras. Photographers and reporters had gathered in large numbers at the main arrivals gate hoping for a glimpse. Only a small and quiet police presence was visible in the public arrivals hall during the evening. The Sydney group managed to leave their airport terminal just before eight o’clock on Tuesday evening. The returning women wore protective face masks to shield their identities from the public eye. The children and at least one adult male also avoided the main arrivals hall and press pack.

The entire Sydney group was rushed out in two white cars with assistance from law enforcement. More than a dozen police officers were spotted controlling traffic to ensure a seamless and rapid departure. Earlier in the day there had been a very strong police presence throughout the airport terminal. Some members of the Australian Federal Police were seen carrying visible automatic weapons for security reasons. Meanwhile heavy rain poured down in Sydney as eager family members awaited their loved ones with anticipation. Relatives held bright welcome home balloons as they waited anxiously outside the terminal building for the group. The Australian Federal Police issued an official statement on Tuesday evening confirming none had been charged.

Officials stated the cohort was subject to a range of standard security and operational responses. These measures included the thorough searching of all personal belongings and digital devices for investigative purposes. Law enforcement wanted to download data to ensure no ongoing security risks remained within the group. No one arriving within this specific cohort has been charged with any criminal offences so far. However investigations into the past activities of Australians who travelled to Syria are still actively ongoing. This includes scrutiny of those who have since returned to Australian soil over the recent years.

The home affairs minister Tony Burke spoke to reporters on Tuesday morning regarding the controversial repatriation. He stated that national security agencies have been preparing for this potential return since mid twenty fourteen. He assured the public that authorities have longstanding plans in place to manage and monitor them. Burke noted these are people who made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation. He added that they chose to place their vulnerable children in an absolutely unspeakable wartime situation. The minister reiterated that any members of this cohort who committed crimes will face justice. They can expect to face the full force of the law if evidence of wrongdoing emerges. Burke emphasised that the absolute priority of the government remains the safety of the Australian community.

The Sydney group was believed to include several members of the prominent and well-known Zahab family. This included Nesrine, Sumaya, and Aminah Zahab along with another returning mother named Hyam Raad. Aminah is known to be the mother of Muhammad Zahab who was a prominent figure. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported in twenty nineteen that he was a senior member of Islamic State. He reportedly recruited more than a dozen of his own family members before his death. Muhammad Zahab was eventually killed in a conflict zone during the year twenty eighteen. He reportedly convinced his mother Aminah and his sister Sumaya to travel to war-torn Syria. His cousin Nesrine Zahab has previously defended her actions and journey to the middle eastern region.

Nesrine claimed she was only twenty-one when she snuck away from a family holiday in Lebanon. She travelled with a female cousin with the intention of helping refugees near the border. They allegedly intended to stay on the Turkish side of the Syrian border to assist families. She maintained that she had absolutely no intention of entering the dangerous and war-torn country. Nesrine later questioned who would willingly walk into an active war zone under those conditions. She admitted to feeling immense shock and terror once she realised she was inside Syria. She described crying and screaming while throwing a massive tantrum like a frightened little girl.

The group returning to Melbourne was believed to include Kawsar Kanj and her five young children. One of her children has now reached adulthood during their long time spent in Syria. The Melbourne group also reportedly included Kirsty Rosse-Emile who returned alongside her two young children. Kanj and her husband Majed Raad originally travelled to Syria from Melbourne’s northern suburbs in twenty fourteen. They took three of their children with them on the journey to the middle east. Two more children were subsequently born after the couple settled inside the borders of Syria. Raad was previously acquitted over his alleged role in the Pendennis terror plot decades ago.

Official documents indicated that Kanj had her Australian citizenship cancelled by the government in twenty nineteen. This harsh decision by then home affairs minister Peter Dutton was later overturned by courts. The High Court of Australia ruled the citizenship stripping laws were unconstitutional in a landmark case. Raad is currently thought to have survived the final territorial collapse of the Islamic State group. He was subsequently held in a Syrian prison but his exact current whereabouts remain unknown. Rosse-Emile was only nineteen when she left south-east Melbourne with her husband Nabil Kadmiry. Their two children aged about nine and six were born after leaving Australian shores behind. Kadmiry was also captured by forces in twenty nineteen during the fall of the caliphate. Members of Kanj’s and Rosse-Emile’s extended families did not respond to media requests for comment.

The chief executive of Save the Children Australia Mat Tinkler welcomed the safe return of families. He stated that the returning children would now need access to comprehensive and wraparound health support. They will also require significant psychosocial support to recover from years of intense wartime trauma. Tinkler expressed deep disappointment regarding the highly politicised debate surrounding their future in the country. He noted that while media attention focuses on the mothers two-thirds of returnees are children. He argued that Australia must prioritise their safety and wellbeing as legal citizens of the country.

The previous Morrison government successfully repatriated eight vulnerable orphans from Syrian camps back in twenty nineteen. The subsequent Albanese government repatriated thirteen children and four mothers in October twenty twenty-two. In twenty twenty-five two mothers and four children returned to Melbourne after successful legal negotiations. Last month nine children and four mothers also returned to Australia with strong family support. Three of those returning women were promptly arrested and charged with serious terrorism-related offences. Tinkler called for the remaining Australian woman and her young daughter in Syria to return. She has been issued a temporary exclusion order preventing her return to her home country.

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