A woman linked to Islamic State arrested and charged with terrorism offences has four children, sources close to the families say, one of whom was wounded by a gunshot in the final days of the so-called caliphate in 2019.
Australian Federal Police have announced they have charged Rayann El Houli with entering or remaining in a declared area and being a member of a terror organisation. She will appear in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday afternoon.
El Houli returned to Australia from Syria with her sister last September after the pair escaped the al-Hawl detention camp and made their own way to Lebanon, before being issued with a passport at the embassy in Beirut.
Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner Hilda Sirec said the charges announced on Thursday came after searches in the Melbourne suburbs of Broadmeadows and North Fitzroy. The charges carry a sentence of up to 10 years.
They are the same charges as those laid against Janai Safar, who returned to Sydney from Syria earlier this month.
The arrest and charging of the woman who returned to Australia eight months ago comes amid a furious political atmosphere surrounding the so-called ISIS brides, and as the opposition lashes Labor for allegedly “rolling out the welcome mat” for a group of 19 women and children who arrived in Sydney and Melbourne on Tuesday night.
Sirec said the latest arrest should be seen as a sign of the agency’s determination to continue “highly complex” investigations for as long as it took.
“I also want to underscore that a period of time without charges being laid is not an indicator that the investigations have ceased,” Sirec said, announcing the charges against El Houli.
“I won’t outline our operational strategies or who could face charges in the future, but I will confirm investigations are continuing in all recent adult female returnees who spent time in internally displaced persons camps in Syria.”
Police “need to be able to take the time and effort to make sure that the evidence is admissible and to a legal standard,” she added.
Sirec would not comment on how the investigations were being undertaken, and declined to answer a question about whether women who had returned from the camps would be interviewed and asked for evidence about each other.
She also would not comment on what terror threat was posed by Hodan Abby, who was prevented from leaving Syria earlier this week because of a Temporary Exclusion Order imposed by the Albanese government.
El Houli returned to Australia last September with her four children and her sister, causing a political furore at the time. Then-acting home affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash accused the government of a cover up when it refused to confirm details about the cohort of six.
The two women escaped the Syrian camp using people smugglers, then arrived in Beirut and were detained by Lebanese authorities as they did not have valid visas or legitimate entry records. They were issued passports by the Australian government after being processed by Lebanese authorities, and in consultation with Victoria Police.
It was the first time the government outlined its current policy of allowing women and children to return to Australia if they found their own way back, without government assistance.
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Michael Bachelard is a senior writer and former deputy editor and investigations editor of The Age. He has worked in Canberra, Melbourne and Jakarta, has written two books and won multiple awards for journalism, including the Gold Walkley.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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