Australia is obliged to take care of the women and their children who have returned home after years in a refugee camp in Syria, an international security advisor says.
Four women and nine children touched down tonight after fleeing to Syria and Iraq more than a decade ago.
Two of the women were arrested by Australian Federal Police in Melbourne and one was arrested in Sydney.
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One of the women, Janai Safar, was transported to a Sydney police station following her arrest. (A Current Affair)
The return of the families has sparked public debate, with critics arguing the women should not have been allowed to board flights home.
But international security advisor Neil Ferguson says Australia is required to take responsibility for the women.
“They’re Australian citizens; to the best of our knowledge they don’t hold dual citizenships, so we’ve got international obligations,” he said.
“Apart from humanitarian considerations, we need to look after our citizens and take responsibility.”
Ferguson said the women were expected to be assessed and interviewed by the AFP before the welfare system makes contact with them to engage in deradicalisation programs.
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International security advisor Neil Ferguson said Australia has “international obligations” to look after the women. (Nine)
“We have a very advanced system in this country for dealing with what we call radicalised persons,” Ferguson told A Current Affair host Ally Langdon.
“I’m not saying it’s perfect, it’s not perfect anywhere, but it has had some success because we’ve had other people come back from what was once regarded as the Islamic State caliphate and to a certain extent, as far as we can tell, they assimilated into Australian society without particular problems.”
Ferguson said those who were not charged would need to be monitored and assisted by deradicalisation experts “for a period of time”.
“We’ve got some extraordinary deradicalisation experts and the program does work,” he said.
Watch the full video in the player above.