Return of IS-linked families sparks debate in terror-traumatised Australia

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Return of IS-linked families sparks debate in terror-traumatised Australia11 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleTiffanie TurnbullandKaty Watson ,SydneyAFP via Getty ImagesA group of Australian women and children linked to IS arrived in the country on ThursdayAfter years spent detained in Syria, the freedom of the Islamic State group-linked families who landed back in their homeland of Australia this week was dramatically short lived. Three of the women were swiftly arrested. The fourth was left to confront a frenzied media scrum alone, small children in tow, with the knowledge she could be next.

Australia has been eyeing their potential return with trepidation for years. It has been resisting pressure to claim dozens of its citizens - families members of men who fought for the so-called Islamic State (IS). They have been languishing in highly-guarded camps since the group lost its territorial control in Syria after a years-long military campaign by the US-led coalition and local allies.

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Australia is not alone in its reluctance to help these women and children: many others, including the UK, have also been wrestling with questions of security, rehabilitation and political responsibility. But as the country wallows in the fallout of its worst terrorist attack – a mass shooting allegedly inspired by IS at a Jewish event in Bondi Beach in December which left 15 dead – sentiment towards them has hardened. The prime minister has repeatedly said he has nothing but contempt for the group: "If you make your bed, you have to lie in it," has been Anthony Albanese's mantra.

But amid increasingly volatile conditions, advocates say the predicament of the Australians still stuck in Syria is growing more dangerous and the need to get them home more desperate. "The government want us to forget about them… the quicker they come to Australia, the safer it is for all of Australia and for themselves," Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi told the in an interview earlier this year, after an earlier bid to return by Australian IS families failed. The two camps where the families of IS fighters were channelled when the "caliphate" fell have long been described as a ticking time bomb - rife with violence, incubators for radicalisation, and an ever-growing humanitarian crisis.

The largest, Al-Hol, was shut down in February after Syrian forces of the new government reclaimed the country, while the future of the remaining Al-Roj camp, in the country's north-east Kurdish region, is uncertain. There are about 2,000 people in Al-Roj, from dozens of countries which refuse to take them back - including Shamima Begum, who was stripped of her British citizenship after travelling to Syria as a 15-year-old and marrying an IS fighter.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.