Australian women and children leave Syrian detention camp for Damascus – and potentially home

Repatriation attempt comes after group was turned around when leaving camp in February. Albanese government says it’s not assisting cohort Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Four Australian women and nine of their children and grandchildren have left al-Roj camp in north-east Syria, seeking to return to Australia. The group is reportedly travelling across Syria by road to the capital Damascus, under the control of the Syrian government. A further seven Australian women, and 14 of their children, remain in al-Roj camp, sources said on Saturday. The wives, widows and children of jailed or dead Islamic State fighters have been held at the camp for more than six years. None have been charged with a crime, but one woman has been issued with a temporary exclusion order seeking to prevent her return to Australia. The camp, controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is being steadily shuttered, ahead of an expected handover to the Syrian government. Conditions have steadily deteriorated: dysentery and influenza outbreaks are common, spreading quickly across populations living in close quarters in dilapidated tents, particularly among underdevel