Australia’s quiet returnees from Syria are in fact a loud warning
In this article published by the Lowy Institute, Prof. Dr. Khalid Koser and Dr. Lilla Schumicky-Logan discuss how leaving detainees stranded in Syria doesn’t reduce risk but instead, can export the very insecurity governments hope to prevent.
The recent arrival of two Australian women and their four children from the Al-Hol detention camp in northeast Syria should surprise – and alarm – Australian policymakers.
How did six Australians, whose names and ages remain withheld, manage to leave one of the world’s most tightly controlled camps and travel across continents to Victoria?
A few weeks ago, we visited Al-Hol and Al-Roj. We found a functioning underground economy: hawala agents transferring money, residents accessing the internet, and a porous security system. After our visit, several residents emailed us directly seeking help to leave. The camps are not the sealed environments they are often assumed to be.
Why leave? The humanitarian conditions are desperate – overcrowding, disease, trauma. A recent US State Department report to Congress described tuberculosis outbreaks, contaminated water, and widespread psychological distress. Media investigations have also documented shocking abuses, including the exploitation of adolescent boys and covert tunnels used to conceal them. Yet many residents remain ambivalent. Of the women we spoke with, roughly a quarter said they would never return home, and half were undecided. Some will only leave with imprisoned husbands. Others imagine resettlement elsewhere.
To read the full article, go to: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/australia-s-quiet-returnees-syria-are-fact-loud-warning.