It is the culmination of a seven-year campaign for all innocent Australian children to be granted safe passage to Australia from camps in northeastern Syria.
Save the Children Australia CEO Mat Tinkler welcomed the child’s urgent return to access the medical care she desperately needs.
“After seven long years languishing in a desert camp, with no clear pathway home, today’s news means the last Australian child and mother in Syria are now able to return home,” he said.
“This little girl was among the most vulnerable in the group, making her safe and immediate return to Australia a matter of urgency to allow her to access healthcare and wraparound supports to recover and reintegrate into the Australian community.
“The Home Affairs Minister has made it clear that the returning mother will be subject to stringent monitoring conditions and surveillance. If there is evidence the woman has committed any crimes, or poses an ongoing risk to the Australian community, Australia’s judicial and national security system is best placed to assess and manage these risks.
“As the remaining Australian child and her mother return to Australia, we call on the wider community, including politicians and commentators to consider the child’s wellbeing and allow her the best chance of recovery away from public scrutiny.”
Save the Children has not played a role in returning this group or any other Australians from northeastern Syria, but has long supported the families in their advocacy efforts.
We understand that one young Australian man, Yusuf Zahab, who was separated from his family as a child, is still trapped in the region and we call for his safe return home.
In 2023, Save the Children Australia acted as a litigation guardian in a case brought before the Federal Court seeking to compel the Australian Government to repatriate the entire group. While the legal action was ultimately unsuccessful, the court noted that it would be a relatively straightforward exercise for the government to repatriate the Australian children and their mothers – if it had the political will to do so.
Save the Children has been working in Syria since 2012, reaching over five million people, including more than three million children across the country with emergency and life-saving interventions including child protection services, education, food security and livelihoods, water, sanitation and hygiene as well as health and nutrition.
