Albanese declares ‘zero sympathy’ for ISIS brides as Yazidi community lives in fear

Members of the local Yazidi community who fled persecution in the Middle East say they have been retraumatised by the high-profile arrival of four so-called ISIS brides, with community leaders calling on authorities to hold accountable anyone who enslaved or abused members of the minority group.

An estimated 20 ISIS-linked women and children who remain stuck in a camp in northern Syria could seek to return to Australia in coming weeks after a group of 13 people arrived on Thursday night, with three women quickly taken into police custody and charged with offences ranging from slavery to joining a terror organisation.

The crimes against humanity offences laid against two of the returning women are the first of their kind in Australia, making their case historically significant.

As the women faced court in Sydney and Melbourne on Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared he had “zero sympathy” for any Australians who had travelled to join the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate as he welcomed the legal proceedings.

Zahra Ahmad, the widow of notorious Islamic State recruiter Muhammad Zahab, was not arrested after returning to Melbourne and left the airport surrounded by a phalanx of supporters operating as security guards.

Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Stephen Nutt said that investigations were still ongoing as he announced charges against Zahra’s younger sister Zeinab Ahmad and mother Kawsar Ahmad, as well as former health science student Janai Safar, on Thursday night.

“This remains an active investigation into very serious allegations,” he said.

Safar was refused bail in Sydney on Friday after being charged with entering a declared zone and joining a terror group. The accused Melbourne women will ask to be released back into the community at a bail hearing on Monday.

Kawsar Abbas (described in court documents as Kawsar Ahmad) and her daughter Zeinab Ahmad have been charged with crimes against humanity, including the enslavement of a Yazidi female.

“The Yazidi community still carries the pain of genocide, displacement, and the loss of thousands of innocent people,” Sami Sheebo, a Yazidi community leader who fled Iraq for Australia in 2018, said.

“For many survivors, especially women who endured ISIS captivity and slavery, these developments bring back very painful memories and emotional scars.”

Thousands of Yazidi men were killed, while women and girls were abducted, enslaved and subjected to horrendous abuse after Islamic State took control of parts of Iraq in 2014, recognised as a genocide by a United Nations commission of inquiry.

Sheebo said the community was urging authorities to fully investigate any Australians accused of supporting terrorism or participating in crimes against humanity.

“We respect Australia’s legal system and democratic values,” he said. “At the same time, survivors deserve justice, protection, and reassurance that their suffering is being taken seriously.”

Another Yazidi leader said members of the community lived in fear of encountering one of their former captors on the street.

Thousands of Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking religious minority whose members are mostly based in northern Iraq, have settled in the Queensland city of Toowoomba in recent years, with others finding home in Coffs Harbour on the NSW North Coast.

Albanese told reporters in Melbourne on Friday that “one of the things that divides our society from the lawless barbarity of ISIS is that we believe in the rule of law”.

“And the rule of law means if you’re an Australian citizen, you have some entitlements,” he said.

“It is correct that the US government and others urged us to do so. We chose to make our own decisions as a sovereign state and not to provide them with any support because I have absolutely zero sympathy for these people. I do have sympathy for the children though, who are victims of decisions that their parents have made.”

Albanese said it was important the children receive support because of the dire conditions they had experienced in Syrian camps and their exposure to a “terrible, horrific ideology which seeks to destroy our way of life”.

Sydney University international law professor Ben Saul described the charges against the Melbourne women as “unprecedented”, saying: “In the last 75 years, Australia has not successfully prosecuted any international crimes. These are certainly the first crimes against humanity charges in Australian history.”

As well as providing the specific charges relating to alleged slavery, he said prosecutors would need to show they happened in a broader context of systemic persecution of a particular population.

“If the charges are proven, it will send a message about Australia’s commitment to international law,” he said.

Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam questioned why the government had not applied for temporary exclusion orders on the women if there was enough evidence against them to justify their arrest.

“Why then did they not refuse passports under section 14 of the Passports Act, given there are clauses within that section that enable a minister to revoke or not issue a passport on national security grounds or risk to national security?” he asked.

“The government have talked a big game here, talking about the full force of the law. And I hope that the hard-working, honest men and women of the AFP and ASIO have done everything they can, as I’m sure they have, to mount a strong case against these people who have committed, allegedly, these crimes.”

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