{"id":12372,"date":"2026-02-16T15:10:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12372"},"modified":"2026-02-16T15:10:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:10:35","slug":"dozens-of-australian-isil-relatives-freed-from-syrias-roj-camp-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12372","title":{"rendered":"Dozens of Australian ISIL relatives freed from Syria\u2019s Roj camp | News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Families of 34 Australians are set to depart from Damascus, Kurdish authorities say.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">3 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 16 Feb 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">16 Feb 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Kurdish authorities in Syria have released 34 Australian relatives of ISIL (ISIS) fighters who had been held in a camp in northern Syria, saying they would be flown to Australia from Damascus.<\/p>\n<p>A director of \u2060the Roj camp said on Monday that Australian citizens had been handed over to members of their families who had come to Syria for the release.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cToday, we are handing over 11 families who hold Australian nationality to their relatives,\u201d Hakmieh Ibrahim told the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese families are the last Australians in the Roj camp,\u201d she added. Ibrahim revealed that 2,201 people with about 50 nationalities were still residing in the camp.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4317660\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4317660\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4317660\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ap_69930b476f6c9-1771244359.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Family members of suspected Islamic State militants who are Australian nationals board a van heading to the airport in Damascus during the first repatriation operation of the year, at Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Thirty-four Australian citizens from 11 families departed the camp. (AP Photo\/Baderkhan Ahmad)\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4317660\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Family members board a van heading to the airport in Damascus [Baderkhan Ahmad\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>They were put on small buses for Damascus before their departure from the country. A military vehicle escorted the buses.<\/p>\n<p>Thousands of people believed to be linked to ISIL have been held at Roj and a second camp, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bCQxfbbAhsI\">al-Hol<\/a>, since the armed group was driven from its final territorial foothold in Syria in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Syrian government forces took control of al-Hol last month during fighting with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which led to state forces seizing most of the territory in northeastern Syria previously controlled by Kurdish forces.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"safety-of-australians-overriding-priority\">\u2018Safety of Australians overriding priority\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The Australian government said in a statement that it will not repatriate people from Syria.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur security agencies have been monitoring \u2013 and continue to monitor \u2013 the \u2060situation in Syria to ensure they are prepared for any Australians \u2060seeking to return to Australia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople in this cohort need to know that if they have committed a crime and if they return to Australia they will be met with the full force of the law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe safety \u2060of Australians and the protection of Australia\u2019s national interests remain the overriding priority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The British NGO Save The Children <a href=\"https:\/\/www.savethechildren.net\/news\/fate-20000-children-ne-syria-camps-uncertain-security-situation-deteriorates\">warned in January<\/a> that 20,000 children in camps in northeastern Syria faced being \u201charmed, exploited or coerced by armed actors\u201d as the security situation in the region declines and called on countries to repatriate their civilians from the camps.<\/p>\n<p>Governments around the world, including the United Kingdom, have been slow to bring back their citizens. The most well-known resident of the Roj camp, UK-born Shamima Begum, was 15 when she and two other girls fled from London in 2015 to marry ISIL fighters in Syria.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, the UK government revoked her citizenship soon after she was discovered in a detention camp in Syria.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, she has challenged the decision, which was turned down by an appeals court in February 2024. Born in Britain to Bangladeshi parents, Begum does not hold Bangladeshi citizenship. She is still in the Roj camp.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Families of 34 Australians are set to depart from Damascus, Kurdish authorities say. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a03 mins info Published On 16 Feb 202616 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Kurdish authorities in Syria have released 34 Australian relatives of ISIL (ISIS) fighters who had been held in a camp [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}