In 2014, the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group declared a caliphate, a form of Islamic government headed by a caliph, considered to be a successor to the prophet Muhammad. This correlated with a global campaign of terror and 53,000 foreigners from 80 countries travelling to support IS (sometimes also referred to as ISIS).

Domestically, there was also a surge in jihadist activity, with nine terrorist attacks and an estimated 207 Australians emigrating to Syria and Iraq to support IS.

Although only about 17% of emigres were women, their actions at the time were typically assumed to have been motivated by ignorance, coercion or innocently following their husbands’ orders. Many of them ended up in Syria’s internally displaced person’s (IDP) camps.

Now, some of these so-called “ISIS brides” have made their way back to Australia.

On September 26, two women and four children arrived in Victoria after smuggling themselves out of one of Syria’s IDP camps. The group was detained in Lebanon before passing security checks and being issued Australian passports.

The Albanese government has said it did not formally assist in repatriating this cohort. Controversy, government scrutiny and a Senate Estimates hearing have ensued. In the process, it has reignited political debate over the nature of the women’s return, the security threat posed by “jihadi brides”, and how they will be reintegrated back into Australian society.

This precarity could have been avoided. As I and others have consistently argued, it is the legal, humanitarian, national and international security obligation of Western states to repatriate, rehabilitate, and prosecute or reintegrate their citizens.

Without formal repatriation, we risk the unregulated movement of IS emigres,........

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