Australian woman linked to Islamic State charged with terror offences

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY, May 28 (Reuters) – An Australian woman who returned home in September from a Syrian refugee camp has been charged with allegedly joining Islamic State and entering ​and remaining in a declared conflict zone, authorities said on ‌Thursday.

The 34-year-old travelled to Syria between 2013 and 2014 with others, including a man, to allegedly join Islamic State, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a statement. The man is believed to be in a prison in the Middle ‌East, ​the AFP added.

The woman is expected to ⁠appear in a Melbourne court ⁠on Thursday. Both offences carry a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

Kurdish forces detained the woman in March 2019 and she was held with family members in the Al-Hawl ​refugee camp. Police said she returned to Australia from Lebanon with another woman, 36, and that investigations into both women were ⁠ongoing.

“It is important to note that a ⁠period of time without charges being laid is ​not an indicator that investigations have ceased,” AFP Deputy Commissioner of National ​Security Investigations Hilda Sirec said.

“Investigations are continuing into all the ‌recent adult female returnees from Syrian camps.”

The charges follow the return earlier this month of two women charged with slavery-related offences and a third with terror offences, including allegedly joining Islamic State. A second ⁠group of Australian women and children arrived on Tuesday from a Syrian camp with no charges laid on arrival.

The return of both groups has ⁠drawn criticism from ‌political opponents, who say the centre-left government failed ⁠to stop their travel to Australia. The government says ​it ‌did not assist their travel and that there ​are “very serious ⁠limits” on preventing citizens from re-entering the country.

Between 2012 and 2016, some Australian women travelled to Syria to join their husbands who were allegedly members of Islamic State. Following the collapse of the caliphate in 2019, many were detained in camps.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing ​by Thomas Derpinghaus)