Australian women linked to the Islamic State group have said they can’t wait to return home to Melbourne – with one revealing she missed ‘lattes’ most of all.
The group has boarded a Qatar Airways flight back to Australia despite facing possible arrest upon arrival on Thursday night.
ABC News reporter Bridget Rollason spoke to some of the women at Doha Airport while they were in transit.
‘They told me they were really looking forward to getting back to Melbourne and said they missed Australia,’ she said.
‘Some of the children even had Australian accents, despite being born in Syria.
‘When we spoke to the women, they appeared excited about returning home.
‘One woman told me she missed lattes most of all and was looking forward to having a coffee on Collins Street in Melbourne.
‘We asked how they felt about potentially being arrested, but they declined to comment. One of their uncles told us to stop filming and stop speaking to them.
The group has boarded a Qatar Airways flight back to Australia despite facing possible arrest upon arrival (pictured, the women at Doha airport)
‘We were only able to have a brief conversation before they boarded the flight.’
Some of the cohort will land in Sydney while the rest will touch down in Melbourne.
The group consists of four Australian women – grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 54, her two daughters Zahra Ahmad, 33, and former nursing student Zeinab Ahmed, 31, Janai Safar – and their nine children.
The women and children spent two weeks in Syria’s capital after leaving the Al Roj refugee camp in the north, where they had lived for seven years.
They spoke about their hopes for life in Australia.
‘We just want our children to be safe. It was like hell (in Syria) for them,’ one of the woman told ABC News.
‘One of the boys has an Australian accent, even though he’s never been to Australia,’ another told the publication.
More to come.
