It is the first step to return 17-year-old Hoda, eight-year-old Humzeh and their pregnant 18-year-old sister Zaynab Sharrouf, along with her two young children Aiyesha, 3, and Fatimah, 2, back to Australia.
Mr Sharrouf spent four years in prison on terrorism charges after he was convicted of plotting to attack the Holsworthy army barracks in 2009, before using his brother’s passport and taking his family to Syria in 2013 and fighting for Islamic State.
In 2015, the children’s mother Tara Nettleton died from a medical condition and in 2017, their father, along with two older brothers Abdullah, 12, and Zarqawi, 11, are believed to have been killed in a coalition airstrike.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that children couldn’t be held responsible for the acts of their parents, and described taking them into a conflict zone as “despicable”.
“I think Australians would agree that we need to show compassion in the cases of these children, but at the same time, Australians would equally expect the Government to exercise all the care that is needed to ensure the security issues are well addressed in the decisions that we have made,” Mr Morrison said.
“They have got off to a horrible start in life as a result of the appalling decisions of their parents, and they’ll find their home in Australia.
“I’m sure they’ll be embraced by Australians and as a result of that embrace, I’m sure they’ll live positive and happy lives.”
Welcome back jihadist’s family
THREE of the late Punchbowl jihadist Khaled Sharrouf’s children and two of his grandchildren are believed to be among eight children taken from a Syrian refugee camp to another undisclosed Middle Eastern country on Monday.
