Australia rules out helping families of IS militants leave Syrian camp

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday his government would not help Australians in a Syrian camp holding families of suspected Islamic State militants return home, with the government open to prosecutions if they make it back.



"We have a very firm view that we won't be providing assistance or repatriation," Albanese told ABC News. Thirty-four Australians released on Monday from a camp in northern Syria were returned to the detention centre ​due to "technical reasons," two sources told Reuters on Monday.



Dubbed "IS brides" by local media - though the cohort also includes children - they are expected to travel to Damascus before eventually returning to Australia, despite objection from ruling and opposition lawmakers.



A spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Australia's security agencies had been monitoring the situation in Syria, and said those who had broken the law would be prosecuted.



"People in this cohort need to know that if they have committed a crime and if they return to Australia they will be met with the full force of the law," he said.