Australia charges woman who returned from Syria with joining Islamic State

Several groups of women and children who spent years in a Syrian camp have returned in recent months. Australia charges woman who returned from Syria with joining Islamic State Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. A 34-year-old woman who returned to Australia from Syria has been charged with being a member of the Islamic State group A woman wearing black Islamic dress stands in front of a lift with her back to the camera with two women in police uniform on either side A woman with links to the Islamic State group who returned to Australia from Syria last year has been charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation and entering a declared conflict zone, police have said. The 34-year-old arrived in Australia in September along with another woman, police said, and was to appear in a Melbourne court on Thursday. The announcement comes after two groups of women and children arrived in Australia this month after spending years in the al-Roj camp in north-east Syria where families of IS fighters have been held since 2019. after two groups of women and children arrived in Australia this month after spending years in the al-Roj camp in north-east Syria where families of IS fighters have been held since 2019. Three of the women who returned this month also face various charges including crimes against humanity. Three of the women who returned this month also face various charges including crimes Both offences with which the 34-year-old was charged carry maximum penalties of up to 10 years in prison, Hilda Sirec, federal police assistant commissioner, told reporters. She said the woman, identified by local media as Rayann El Houli, travelled to Syria in 2013 or 2014 and was detained by Kurdish forces in 2019 and held in Syria's al-Hawl camp. Sirec said all the adult women who had arrived back in Australia recently were being investigated, adding: "A period of time without charges being laid is not an indicator that investigations have ceased." The group who arrived in Sydney and Melbourne on Tuesday were understood to be the last Australians in the al-Roj camp, with other Australians having returned in previous months and years. on Tuesday were understood to be the last Australians in the al-Roj camp, with other Australians having returned in previous months and years. A mother and daughter - Kawsar Ahmad and Zeinab Ahmad - who arrived in Melbourne as part of a group at the beginning of the month have been charged with enslavement and using a slave, with the mother also accused of slave trading. Another woman who arrived in Sydney, Janai Safar was charged with entering and remaining in a declared conflict zone and joining IS. The women and children have been the subject of heated political debate in Australia, with the government saying it had given them no help to return and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insisting "if you make your bed, you lie in it". Advocates argued Australia must uphold their right to return and that the children in particular should be supported and not made to pay for the decisions of their parents. The group of six Australian women and 13 children had been stranded in a Syrian camp since 2019. A third woman who also returned to Australia from Syria was charged with joining a terrorist organisation. Three women who allegedly supported IS were arrested after they flew home to Australia for the first time in years. Fixtures, results and scorecards from Australia's brief tour of Pakistan, featuring three one-day internationals. A year after donating stem cells to an Australian boy, Kam Saundh urges others to sign up. The A$2bn case, which centres on contamination at defence sites, is the largest ever brought by the government. Annie Evans-Lewis's car left the road and hit a tree in East Pingelly, south-east of Perth. Almost 90 drones fell from the sky over Sydney's Darling Harbour during a popular winter light show.