Two Australian Women Charged Over Alleged ISIS Links And Slave Case In Syria

Two Australian women have been charged in Melbourne after allegedly keeping a female slave while living under the Islamic State group’s self-declared caliphate in Syria, Australian Federal Police said on Friday. The accused, a 53-year-old mother and her 31-year-old daughter, returned to Australia on Thursday night after nearly a decade stranded in a Syrian detention camp following the collapse of ISIS-controlled territory.

Authorities said the pair were immediately arrested upon landing at Melbourne International Airport on a Qatar Airways flight. Police allege that during their time in Syria, the older woman was complicit in the purchase of a female slave for approximately US$10,000, while the younger woman knowingly kept the individual in their household. Investigators have described the allegations as involving “crimes against humanity.”

According to Australian Federal Police counter-terrorism officials, the women were detained by Kurdish forces in 2019 after the fall of the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate. They were subsequently held at the Roj detention camp in northern Syria, where many former ISIS affiliates and their families have remained in limbo for years.

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The return flight brought back four Australian women and nine children from Syria, marking one of the latest repatriation efforts involving citizens previously linked to extremist groups. However, not all passengers faced charges upon arrival. Another woman, 32-year-old Janai Safar, was arrested separately in Sydney and charged with entering a restricted area and association with a terrorist organisation.

Police said Safar had travelled to Syria in 2015 to join her husband, who was reportedly affiliated with ISIS. Authorities noted that investigations into the returnees remain ongoing, with counter-terrorism units continuing to assess potential security risks and criminal liability.The case has reignited debate in Australia over the repatriation of citizens who travelled to conflict zones during the rise of ISIS. While human rights groups have called for the return of women and children stranded in detention camps, critics argue that individuals who joined extremist organisations should face legal consequences and limited state support.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke described the women’s actions as a “horrific choice” to join a terrorist organisation, underscoring the government’s firm stance on national security. Australia has previously repatriated small groups of women and children from Syrian camps in 2019, 2022, and 2025, amid ongoing discussions about balancing humanitarian responsibility with security concerns.

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