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Three weeks after the Victorian state election, Daniel Andrews’ closest ally has repeatedly declined to say whether the state will take families back from ISIS camps in Syria.
Deputy Prime Minister Jacinta Allan was asked five times this week on ABC Radio whether Victoria would follow NSW, which last week accepted four ISIS brides and their 13 children.
Ms. Allan dodged the question, avoiding each time her host Patricia Karvelas gave her a straight answer on Tuesday.
In her first attempt to get an answer, Karvelas said: ‘The first group of families, the wives and children of Islamic State fighters, arrived in Sydney this weekend from Syria and are now living in the Sydney community.
“Will Victoria accept returnees?” she asked.
Some ISIS brides returning from Syria to Sydney were reunited Tuesday at a McDonalds in the southwestern suburb of Punchbowl.
Ms Allan tried to get around the question and replied: “These are very sensitive security issues.
“They are primarily the province of the federal government. It wouldn’t be appropriate…’
Not happy about that, Karvelas interrupted her.
‘No, this is a matter of principle. (As) a matter of principle, do you accept them (to) Victoria? Or did you ask not to come during the election campaign?” the ABC presenter asked.
The Deputy Prime Minister avoided a direct answer.
“As I think we have seen from the media coverage of this matter, this is a very careful matter….”
Karvelas interrupted him again. “Certainly, but do you think returning citizens, they are Australian citizens, should be allowed on principle to live in Victoria?”
Mrs. Allan then tried another tactic – deflection. “I would really refer you to the federal government and the federal…,” she said before interrupting again.
“But that’s not the question,” said Karvelas.
“It’s about Victoria and whether you think they should be allowed to live in Victoria. Yes or no.’
Victoria’s Deputy Prime Minister Jacinta Allan (pictured centre) was asked five times whether Victoria will take families back from ISIS camps in Syria
At that point, Mrs. Allan was given a little more time—and didn’t answer the question.
“I think you’d understand that this isn’t a simple yes or no proposition,” she said.
“There must be a robust and careful assessment, not carried out by the Victorian Government, they are carried out by the Federal Government and the Federal Home Office…”
Karvelas interrupted her again and said, “And if they do, if they do all the checks and balances, should they be welcome in Victoria?”
Ms. Allan replies, “First, it would be totally inappropriate to break that (process), and second…”
Karvelas interrupted her again and said the magic words a politician trying to avoid a straight answer likes to hear: “Okay, we’re out of time.”
ISIS brides and their children play in the park and take a trip to Macca’s and Kmart after years of being held in a Syrian detention camp as it is revealed that the controversial group will NOT be monitored by the police
- ISIS Brides Returning to Sydney Spotted at McDonald’s
- Mariam Dabboussy visited the park and would also go to Kmart. went
- The four brides are not expected to be monitored by authorities in the future
By DANYAL HUSSAIN FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
ISIS brides and their children are only allowed to visit Kmart and McDonald’s for 48 hours after they return to Australia – and they will not be checked by police in the future.
Four brides and their 13 children landed in Sydney on Saturday morning after being removed from Syria’s al-Roj camp near the Iraqi border in an operation involving Australian officials and the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Authorities were expected to consider possible charges against the women, but it has now been revealed that they are unlikely to face police action, wear an ankle guard bracelet, and also not be subject to 24-hour police surveillance.
Dabboussy is subject to voluntary orders, but is not subject to strict counter-terrorism orders.
She is now back at her childhood home near Blacktown and has been spotted visiting a park with her three children.
In a 2019 interview, Bankstown-born Dabboussy previously said she was tricked into entering Syria in mid-2015 by her terrorist husband Kaled Zahab, who died shortly after their arrival.
Shayma Assaad, 22, and her four children would also have returned to Sydney on Saturday, according to the Australian.
She was taken to Syria when she was just 15 and married to an older Islamic State member, Sydney trader Mohammed Noor Masri, who is still in prison in Syria.
Shayma Assaad (pictured) was 15 when she moved to Syria from Australia with her parents and later married Mohammed Noor Masri, 26. It is believed she and her four children have now also returned to Sydney
Dabboussy’s sister-in-law, Mariam Raad, 31, was also on the plane home on Saturday with her four children.
Raad is the widow of Muhammad Zahab, a former math teacher in western Sydney who became one of Australia’s leading IS leaders.
He is accused of luring at least a dozen of his extended family to Syria, including brother Kaled.
In a statement, the women said: ‘We are extremely grateful to be back home in Australia with our children.
She was taken to Syria when she was just 15 and married to an older Islamic State member, Sydney trader Mohammed Noor Masri, who is still in prison in Syria.
Kamalle Dabboussy with his daughter Mariam Dabboussy (right) and her daughters at al-Hawl camp in northeastern Syria. She is one of the ISIS brides who returned to Australia on Saturday
Dabboussy’s sister-in-law, Mariam Raad, 31, was also on the plane home on Saturday with her four children.
Raad is the widow of Muhammad Zahab, a former math teacher in western Sydney who became one of Australia’s leading IS leaders.
He is accused of luring at least a dozen of his extended family to Syria, including brother Kaled.
In a statement, the women said: ‘We are extremely grateful to be back home in Australia with our children.
Earlier this month, the Albanian government confirmed a rescue plan to bring home 16 women and 42 children, families of IS members from the camp.
The women and children were removed from the al-Roj camp near the Iraqi border in an operation involving Australian officials and the Syrian Democratic Forces. They are now in Sydney. In the photo: female ISIS fighters
The first people to be removed were rated as the most vulnerable of those detained.
The federal government worked with Kurdish authorities on the extraction, which reportedly included DNA testing of the individuals to prove they were Australian citizens.
Most of the children were born in Syria, which means they will see Australia for the first time.
Australian intelligence agencies believe that leaving Australians in squalid camps could pose a greater threat to national security than bringing them back, as their plight could be used to recruit more Australian Muslims to join terror organizations.