Australian women linked to Islamic State charged with offences over Syria travel

Three Australian women with links to the Islamic State (IS) group have been formally charged after returning home from Syria.

Kawsar Abbas, 53 and her daughter Zeinab Ahmed, 31 will appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday, less than 24 hours after they were arrested at Melbourne airport.

Abbas faces four charges of crimes against humanity with police alleging she went to Syria in 2014 and kept a female slave in her home. Ahmed faces two similar charges.

In Sydney, Janai Safar, 32, is also due in court on Friday, charged with allegedly entering and remaining in a declared conflict zone and joining IS. She was arrested and charged on Thursday after landing in Sydney with her son.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege Abbas travelled to Syria in 2014 with her husband and children, and was complicit in the purchase of a female slave for US$10,000, "and knowingly kept the woman in the home".

For Ahmed, police allege she also travelled to Syria in 2014 with her family and knowingly kept a female slave in the home. These charges carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

Another of Abbas's adult children, Zahra Ahmed also arrived in Melbourne on Thursday but was not detained.

For Safar, police allege she travelled to Syria in 2015 to join her husband, who had previously left Australia and joined IS.

She has also been charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation. Both offences carry a maximum penalty of up to 10 years' imprisonment.

The three women who were arrested on Thursday are part of a group of 13 people who arrived in Australia on Thursday. Nine of the people in the group are children.

They are part of a larger cohort of 34 Australian women and children who had been living at the al-Roj camp in Syria since 2019.

The group left the camp in February in a bid to return to Australia but were returned to the camp for "technical reasons" with the Australian government refusing to repatriate them.

One member of the cohort was banned from returning to Australia earlier this year when the government issued a "temporary exclusion order", meaning that person cannot return for up to two years.