The federal government is preparing to bring dozens of Australian women and children from detention camps in north-east Syria to Australia.
Preparations are underway to assist more than 20 women and more than 40 children who have been in the camps since the fall of the so-called Islamic State in 2019.
Australian officials visited the camps earlier this year to verify the identities of the women and children.
Many are the wives, widows and sisters of Islamic state group fighters.
Some were just teenagers when they left Australia but insist they were taken to the Middle East against their will.
The children were either born in Iraq or Syria during or after the fall of IS and concerns have repeatedly been raised for their welfare.
However, the former federal government argued there were security concerns around bringing people back from Syria.
In 2019, then Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton played down the prospect of repatriation.
"These are people that would, in our judgement — not all of them but some of them — have the potential and capacity to come back here and cause a mass casualty event," Mr Dutton told 2GB in October 2019.
"They've gone willingly and or they are as hardcore as some of the male terrorists they've seen in Syria and Iraq."
The new government has taken a different approach and just five months since the federal election, has started working on bringing the women and children home.
If the repatriation goes ahead, Australia will follow in the footsteps of countries like France, Germany and Denmark.
Need to 'protect Australia's national interests'
The federal government has not gone into detail about its plans but a spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said any decision is informed by national security advice.
"The Australian Government's overriding priority is the protection of Australians and Australia's national interests," he said.
"Given the sensitive nature of the matters involved, it would not be appropriate to comment further."
When pressed on repatriation efforts in the past, the Morrison government had stated it would not put Australian officials in danger in order to help.
There are no details about which Australian officials will carry out the repatriation, or if they will have the assistance from other countries, such as the United States.
Kamalle Dabboussy, whose daughter and three grandchildren are in the Roj camp, said he had not been notified by the government about any plans, but described it as "an incredibly exciting prospect".
"It's every parent's wish to ensure their children are safe," he said.
"The welfare of these children is paramount, so it's important that every Australian woman and child is brought home."
Save the Children Australia has long called on the government to repatriate the women and children.
CEO Mat Tinkler said he was encouraged by the reports.
"For more than three years, these children have been trapped in one of the worst places in the world to be a child and their situation has been growing increasingly desperate," he said.
"I saw these conditions first hand when I travelled to Roj camp in North East Syria in June.
"Australian children are poorly nourished, suffering from untreated shrapnel wounds and the situation is impacting their mental health. They are just hanging on."
'We can visit them if they're jailed here'
Shadow Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has raised concerns about the plans.
"The protection of all Australians — including in Australia — should be the government's number one priority," she said.
"Labor needs to assure Australians that individuals who may have been radicalised pose no threat upon their return to Australia — and explain the efforts they're going to undertake to monitor and rehabilitate these individuals."
Kamalle Dabboussy said the women are willing to abide by any security requirements.
"The families just want to welcome them home and would happily co-operate with all levels of government to make that happen," he said.
While visiting Syria in June, Mat Tinkler said he spoke to the women about the need for them to work with authorities.
"The women have all offered their full cooperation with law enforcement authorities should they be repatriated here in Australia," he told the ABC.
"They have also offered themselves to be subject to terrorism control orders by consent, which is unprecedented in Australia's history that these women would say we are ok for our every move to be monitored.
"With the full force of Australia's law enforcement security apparatus at play here these women pose no real threat and at least no threat that can't be mitigated."
A control order is issued by a court after a request is made by federal police and cannot last longer than 12 months.
It can require a person to wear a tracking device, report to authorities at a certain time and place and prevent a person from communicating with certain people.
Elaine Pearson from Human Rights Watch also argued that leaving the women in Syria would not make the world a safer place.
"We know that the longer that people stay in camps they risk potentially being forcibly recruited, particularly by hardliners there," she said.
Relatives in Australia have previously stated their willingness to work with authorities once their loved ones return.
John Crockett, whose granddaughter is in one of the camps, said families were happy to abide by whatever measures were necessary.
"If some of them are going to go to jail when they come home it's far better for them to be in prison back here and do a term of whatever they've been convicted of," he said in 2019.
"At least if they come back here and they're jailed at least we'll be able to go and see 'em."
Some of the women have already said they would oblige with government control orders.
