MELBOURNE, Australia — The final Australian woman detained in a Syrian camp for relatives of Islamic State fighters has received approval to return to Australia, subject to stringent conditions, according to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Thursday.
The woman and her nine-year-old daughter had intended to come back to Australia in February alongside a group of Australian women and children detained at the Roj camp, but a temporary exclusion order blocked their departure.
Australia introduced these orders in 2019 to bar defeated Islamic State fighters from returning from the Middle East for as long as two years. She is the sole individual known to have been subjected to such an order.
Burke explained on Thursday that, following a permit application by her lawyers, the government no longer has legal grounds to stop the 29-year-old former Sydney resident from returning.
Police and security agencies will enforce strict conditions upon her return, requiring her to inform authorities of her residence, employment, education and any planned travel, Burke said.
She must also provide 24-hour notice before using any telecommunications device, Burke added.
The government stated that the exclusion order was issued on national security grounds, though it did not disclose the specifics.
The woman’s lawyer, Moustafa Kheir, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
The Australian Federal Police have been investigating since 2015 the conduct of Australians who traveled to the area where the Islamic State proclaimed its caliphate across large parts of Iraq and Syria.
It remains uncertain whether she will face arrest upon arrival in Australia. Of the four women who came to Australia with nine children on May 7, three were detained on arrival and charged with terrorism and slavery offenses; they have been denied bail and remain incarcerated.
She was 18 years old when she departed Sydney for Syria in 2015.