Australian women and children being held in a Syrian detention camp have launched legal action against the Department of Home Affairs, in an attempt to compel the federal government to bring them home.
The nine women and 17 children are living in Camp Roj, which has been holding families and people linked to the fallen Islamic State regime.
Lawyers representing the group argue they are innocent and the women were coerced or tricked into travelling to the conflict zone. They said those in Camp Roj faced horrific living conditions and some had untreated shrapnel wounds from conflict.
"It is one of the worst places in the world to be a child," said Mat Tinkler, the chief executive of charity Save the Children, which is acting as litigation guardian in the case.
"These children are just hanging on. They're suffering really poor nutrition, they've got dental decay, they've got traumatic injuries suffered from the conflict, their mental health is in a really poor state."
The group — whose identities were not released by their lawyers — are living in the same detention camp from which 17 people were repatriated last year.
On that occasion the return of the wives, widows and sisters of Islamic State group fighters was the subject of fierce political debate, with opponents concerned about potential risks to the Australian public.
However, the government argued detailed work was done by national security agencies before their repatriation and said allegations of prior unlawful activity would be investigated.
Federal Court writ filed on behalf of 'innocent children and mothers'
On Monday, Save the Children and a team of lawyers acting pro-bono filed a writ in the Federal Court arguing the ongoing detention of the group was unlawful, and that the Australian government had the ability to order their release.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil was named as the first respondent in the case, and her department was named as the second respondent.
Mr Tinkler said he did not know why the government had not yet repatriated this group, who he said faced increasing risks to their health and safety.
"We will be saying that they are highly vulnerable and there is no rational distinction between the groups that have been repatriated, and these innocent children and mothers," he said.
"People are dying in these camps on a regular basis."
The case is now in the hands of the Federal Court, and Mr Tinkler said he hoped the matter would be heard quickly and that there would be a prompt resolution.
The Department of Home Affairs and Minister Clare O'Neil were contacted for comment. A spokesman for the minister said she would not be commenting.
In a statement, Australian-based relatives of some of those in the Roj camp said pursuing legal action was a last resort, and they felt like they had "exhausted all our options to get our family members to safety".
"We want to work with the government. We ask that these women and children be treated like any other Australian citizen and brought home," they said.
In February, the United Nations said there were about 3,000 people held at Camp Roj, of whom 65 per cent were children. A group of UN experts said it was concerned by the practice of boys aged between 10 and 12 being removed from the camp and shifted to adult prisons.
Last year, an Australian teenager who was taken to Syria by his parents died, leaving his Sydney-based family "heartbroken and angry."
