Islamic State-linked families arrive home in Australia from Syria

In an interview with the Australian newspaper in 2019 she said it had been her own decision to go to Syria and that she did not want to return to Australia for fear of being arrested and having her child taken from her.The group of 13 are part of a larger cohort of 34 believed to include wives, widows and children of IS fighters who left the camp in February but returned for "technical reasons" with the Australian government refusing to officially repatriate them.One member of the cohort was banned from returning to Australia earlier this year when the government issued a "temporary exclusion order", meaning they cannot return for up to two years. That person is not among the group that landed on Thursday.Boarding a connecting flight to Melbourne in Doha, the women told a reporter for the national broadcaster ABC they were excited to return home, saying Australia was "like paradise" to them."We just want our children to be safe. It was like hell [in Syria] for them," one said.Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Australia had become aware that the women were to return home on Wednesday, when tickets were booked."These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation," he told reporters, adding that "any members of this cohort who have committed crimes can expect to face the full force of the law."The government had been preparing for the group's return since 2014, Burke said, with "long-standing plans" to "manage and monitor them".