A suburban doctor trying to organise the return of Australian ISIS brides has blamed the Albanese government for the failure of his mission.
Dr Jamal Rifi, who is a GP in western Sydney, has been on the ground in the Middle East attempting to assist 34 women and children to exit the Roj refugee camp in Syria‘s north-east.
In his first statement since the firestorm over plans to return the ISIS brides to Australia, he said he has no regrets about trying to free the families.
‘I’d do it 1,000 times,’ he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
He said he attempted to do ‘everything by the book’, including liaising with the International Committee for the Red Cross.
‘The only obstacle was we didn’t have anything from the Australian government,’ he said.
‘We’re making some inroads, but the biggest obstacle is the prime minister’s statements.
‘The Syrian side is asking if he doesn’t want them, we don’t have anything from them, why should we help them?’
Western Sydney GP Dr Jamal Rifi (pictured) has been trying to help 34 women and children return to Australia from the Roj refugee camp in Syria
Dr Rifi said the Albanese government has been the only obstacle in his efforts
Pictured, one of the ISIS brides – Nesrine Zahab – who is fighting to return to Australia
A key concern for the women and children is that they would be stranded in another country due to a lack of support from the Albanese government.
‘They were concerned the stopover country might not let them in because of all the negative statements that were happening in Australia,’ Dr Rifi said.
‘They didn’t want them to get stuck forever.’
Last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ruled out that his government was helping the ISIS brides.
‘We have a very firm view that we won’t be providing assistance or repatriation,’ he told ABC News Breakfast.
‘We want to make it clear, as we have to the people involved, if there are any breaches of the law then they will face the full force of the Australian law.
‘My mother would have said, “If you make your bed, you lie in it.”
‘These are people who went overseas and went there to provide support for people who basically want a caliphate.’
Last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured centre with Dr Rifi – right) ruled out that his government was helping the ISIS brides
The 34 women and children had previously attempted to leave the Al Roj camp but were forced to turn around amid concerns they didn’t have the correct paperwork
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke revealed last week that the women and children have Australian passports, raising speculation some could return within days.
But Albanese then doubled down on his comments on Tuesday, stating that there would still be no support from his government.
‘Our position hasn’t changed, which is [that] we’re not assisting them or providing repatriation of them,’ he told Nova Perth.
‘If they were to be able to make their own way to Australia, then we would implement the full force of the law as well if there have been any breaches of Australian law.
‘Which is why I’m sure they will take that into account regarding decisions that they’ve made.
‘But they, of course, made the decision to go overseas to essentially provide support for people who are fighting against Australia’s interests and, therefore, I don’t think they’re worthy of support coming back.’
Dr Rifi revealed on Tuesday that he had taken an extra, 35th passport with him to the Middle East for a young, male prisoner called Yusuf Zahab.
When Mr Zahab was 12-years-old, he was allegedly brought to Syria by his parents but, now aged 23, he is believed to have been jailed in a Syrian men’s prison.
Dr Rifi said children shouldn’t suffer from the sins of fathers or mothers and Australian children shouldn’t live in such an environment
‘We went for 35, including a minor who was taken from his mother and put in adult prison – Yusuf,’ Dr Rifi said.
‘We couldn’t find him. We searched for him and then later on it came to us that he was in Iraq.’
There has been no official confirmation that Mr Zahab is currently in Iraq.
Dr Rifi said he was disappointed he was unable to help Mr Zahab or the families in the Roj refugee camp.
‘I don’t regret, but I regret we had to take them out and put them back in [the camp],’ he said.
‘I regret not being able to free Yusuf to return to his mother.
‘The children shouldn’t suffer from the sins of fathers or mothers and Australian children shouldn’t live in such an environment for any length of time. And they’ve been there seven years.’
The doctor also confirmed that, aside from issuing passports, there had been no support from the Albanese government.
Reports have previously suggested a delegate has been sent by the government to accompany the women and children from the camp to Australia
‘If we had a piece of paper from the government they would have been home by now,’ he said.
‘But there has been no support, no paper, no phone calls. Nothing. They said they got there on their own, had to get themselves home.’
The families had previously attempted to leave the Al Roj camp but were forced to turn around amid concerns they didn’t have the correct paperwork.
Reports have previouly suggested a delegate has been sent by the government to accompany them from the camp to Australia, despite the Prime Minister emphatically denying the government was providing the group with support.
The Australian ISIS brides fighting to come home include Nesrine Zahab and her aunt Aminah Zahab and cousin Sumaya Zahab, along with Kawsar Abbas and her daughters Zeinab and Zahra Ahmed, Janai Safar, Hodan Abby, Kawsar Kanj and Hyam Raad.
