Government begins repatriating relatives of Islamic State fighters from Syria

“The uncertainty has been debilitating,” he said of his experience waiting for them to return.

“To have your own child and grandchildren in a war zone-type environment, detained for no reason, and you can’t help them, can’t get them to a point of safety, it’s been frustrating.”

According to Mariam, during a 2015 holiday her husband’s brother convinced him to travel to Syria and become an IS fighter. Her husband died three months after arriving in Syria.

Deradicalisation experts have backed the government’s plan to rescue the Australian relatives of former Islamic State fighters, saying the country has a moral obligation to bring them home.

“As long as the children remain in the camps, they will continue to be exposed to efforts to recruit violent extremists,” Deakin University professor Michele Grossman, an expert on countering violent extremism, said.

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“It makes a lot of sense to have them back in Australia, where they can receive support and the opportunity to integrate into the Australian community.”

But opposition home affairs spokeswoman Karen Andrews, who served as home affairs minister until the May election, said she found the prospect of a rescue mission an “unnecessary risk”.

She said she decided against such a mission when in government because she wanted to avoid endangering the lives of Australian officials in Syria and feared introducing people who may harbour radical ideas into the community.

Andrews said on Friday: “Sensitive missions risking the lives of Australians – including those that are in overseas camps – need to be treated carefully, and with due consideration of the information being made public.

“The Home Affairs Minister needs to come clean with how this level of information – before a mission or missions finish – is currently in the public domain.”

More to come