Barnaby Joyce slams decision to bring ISIS brides and children back
Barnaby Joyce has warned that children who were taken to war torn countries under ISIS rule or were born under the regime pose a huge risk to Australia.
The former Nationals leader said the men and women who travelled to join terrorist organisations made their own decisions.
He said that Australia repatriating four women and their 13 children after being stuck in al-Hol and al-Roj camps in the north eastern Syria region since 2019 was a bad idea.
“They chose to go and be part of a terrorist organisation that was murdering people, raping people, destroying the cultural heritage of countries, and the children that were born overseas are citizens of wherever they were born,’’ Mr Joyce said on Sunrise.
The women however have disputed Mr Joyce’s claims with many of them claiming that they were forced to travel to Syria with their husbands, or were taken there as teenagers and children by their parents before marrying local men.
Mr Joyce said the scheme will cost millions of dollars to keep an eye on the women and children to ensure no Aussies are put at risk.
“As a former deputy chair of the National Security Committee, this will cost millions and millions of dollars to monitor them," he said.
“We have one problem for one person who does not relinquish the vile views they have and meet up with other people and start to espouse their views at some stage of the future.
“That is a massive risk to us and a massive problem. Because people chose to go there, it is totally different and I have real concerns about this, serious concerns about this, serious concerns about what happens.”
Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek said it was unfair to paint the children of the women with the same brush.
“(ISIS) were a disgusting organisation that did disgusting things, but ...a number of these women were taken as children to Syria,’’ she said.
“They were children themselves when they were children themselves when they were taken and they have children now who are Australian citizens growing up in some of the most dangerous places on earth.”
She said it should be reassuring that Australia’s security agencies went above and beyond to ensure their safety and will integrate them back into society.
“I understand why people are concerned and it is absolutely vital that we continue to take the advice of our security agencies that these women stay in touch with people who are prepared to supervise them and in many cases, they will be for a long time, but we need to get these kids home safely and get the kids into normal schools, surrounded by family that love them, integrating into the Australian way of life.
“That’s how we keep ourselves safe and that’s how we keep them safe.”
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