Four Australian women and nine of their children and grandchildren have left al-Roj camp in north-east Syria, seeking to return to Australia.
The group is reportedly travelling across Syria by road to the capital Damascus, under the control of the Syrian government.
A further seven Australian women, and 14 of their children, remain in al-Roj camp, sources said on Saturday.
The wives, widows and children of jailed or dead Islamic State fighters have been held at the camp for more than six years. None have been charged with a crime, but one woman has been issued with a temporary exclusion order to prevent her return to Australia.
The camp, controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is being steadily shuttered, ahead of an expected handover to the Syrian government.
Conditions have steadily deteriorated: dysentery and influenza outbreaks are common, spreading quickly across populations living in close quarters in dilapidated tents, particularly among underdeveloped and undernourished children, and the camp is a regular target for IS incursions.
The US has described the Syrian detention camps as “incubators for radicalisation”.
Most of the Australian women and children have been held in al-Roj camp since 2019. Some of the children were born in the camp.
In February, the entire Australian cohort held in al-Roj attempted to leave, boarding vans to drive to Damascus, but were turned around by Syrian government forces after two hours on the road.
It was stated at the time that the group had failed to coordinate their travel with the Syrian government, despite each person holding a valid travel document issued by the Australian government.
Syrian sources confirmed the repatriation effort this weekend.
The ABC quoted the al-Roj camp director, Hakmiyeh Ibrahim, saying “the coordination was perfect” for this repatriation.
“It was done between us and the Syrian government, to be able to fly back these families to their country.”
Ibrahim said there were currently no plans for the remaining Australians to leave the camp.
“Right now, we are in contact with a number of countries. We hope that in the near future more releases will be done.”
While other countries have been actively repatriating their citizens since 2022, the Australian government has refused to assist citizens in returning home.
Richard Marles, Australia’s deputy prime minister, said on Saturday that the government was playing no role in bringing the current cohort home.
“This government is not participating in the repatriation of people in this circumstance,” he told ABC TV.
The Australian government has previously undertaken two successful repatriation missions: of eight orphaned children in 2019 and of four women and 13 children in 2022.
But it has since refused to repatriate any more of its citizens.
One returned woman was charged with entering a proscribed area, Raqqa province. Mariam Raad pleaded guilty and was discharged conditionally in a NSW court.
Last October, two women and four children escaped nearby al-Hawl detention camp, making their way across Syria to Lebanon, where they were given passports at the Australian embassy. They returned to Australia on a commercial flight.
In 2024, Clare O’Neil, the then home affairs minister, was preparing to bring a plan to repatriate the remaining Australians to cabinet for approval.
But there were concerns within government over a backlash to any repatriation from community groups in electorally critical marginal seats in western Sydney. The plan was abandoned.
The US funds the bulk of security operations across north-east Syria through the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. It wants the camp closed and has withdrawn funding and pushed allies to repatriate their citizens.
Islamic State “continues to seek to indoctrinate residents and to infiltrate the detention facilities” at al-Roj, the US says.