Group of 19 women and children linked to Islamic State due to arrive in Australia

A plane carrying some of the 19 Australian women and children held in Syria since the defeat of Islamic State has landed in Melbourne, with the remainder due to land in Sydney on Tuesday evening. The cohort of 12 children and seven women left a Syrian detention camp last week before boarding flights home. Most either left Australia more than a decade ago, or were born in Syria or Iraq after their parents travelled to the so-called caliphate. The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said on Tuesday morning that security agencies have been preparing for their return since 2014 and “have longstanding plans in place to manage and monitor them”. “These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation,” he said. “As we have said many times, any members of this cohort who have committed crimes can expect to face the full force of the law. “The priority of the government, as always, is the safety of the Australian community.” The Sydney group is expected to include Nesrine, Sumaya and Aminah Zahab and Hyam Raad, along with their children. Aminah is the mother of Muhammad Zahab, who the ABC reported in 2019 was considered to be a senior member of IS who recruited more than a dozen family members before he was killed in 2018. He reportedly convinced Aminah and his sister Sumaya to also travel to Syria. …