Aussie ISIS brides detained in the Syrian desert have described the ‘very difficult’ conditions and say they’re desperate to come home.
A total of 14 Aussie women, and their 22 children, are reportedly living in the Al Roj camp in north-eastern Syria, after they were captured by Kurdish forces during the 2019 defeat of ISIS by a US-led coalition.
Two of the detainees have spoken out about their situation but refused to say how they came to be living in Islamic State-controlled Syria, according to the ABC.
Kirsty Rosse-Emile, 30, from Melbourne, is living in the camp with her young daughter and insisted, ‘you don’t know my story, you don’t know why I’m here, it’s not my choice to be here’.
Ms Rosse-Emile travelled to Syria from Australia to join the Islamic State.
Her husband, the Morocco-born Nabil Kadmiry, was a fighter for the terror group who was stripped of his Australian citizenship in October 2019, and is now being housed in a Kurdish jail.
She refused to speak to reporters about Kadmiry.
‘I can’t really talk about so much of it here, because it might make problems for me.’
Kirsty Rosse-Emile, from Melbourne , is living in the Al Roj camp in Syria with her young daughter
Foreign wives of former ISIS fighters are held in the camps Al Roj and Al Hol (pictured) in Syria
She also insisted she did not pose a danger to Australia and had been a target of bullying in the camp.
‘These people call me names, or throw rocks at me, because I’m not covering my face or because they think now I’m a non-believer, just because of my personality, or I listen to music or I dress the way I dress and stuff like that.
‘So it is very difficult for me to continue to live here. I don’t feel safe. I have severe anxiety.
‘We don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what’s going to happen to our children. It’s so scary.
‘We are willing to comply with whatever we need to upon arrival. We’re not saying we want a free ride. Hear us out.’
Another Australian, 29-year-old Zeinab Ahmed, said there is a street in the camp called ‘Australian Street’ where the Aussie women live.
‘It’s not a place for a child to be and every day, every day, especially for the past two months, every day it’s just getting harder,’ she said.
‘We live closely, we have a strong connection because we all have the same motive. We all want to get home.’
Foreign wives of former ISIS fighters are held in the camps Al Roj and Al Hol (pictured) in Syria
Observers have criticised the conditions in the camp, where Australian children are reportedly suffering from developmental disorders, diarrhoea and rickets.
But there are also fears the camp is a hotbed for Islamic extremism and the Australians, if repatriated, may cause issues at home.
About 6,000 foreign children of former ISIS fighters are housed in the Al Roj and Al Hol camps in Syria.
In September the High Court refused a legal bid by Save the Children to repatriate the remaining Australian wives and children.
Four women and 13 children were returned by the Albanese government in October 2022 and the Morrison government repatriated a group in 2019.
