Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has confirmed that Hodan Abby, the last Australian woman with links to the Islamic State group stranded in the Middle East, has been granted a permit to return to Australia. Ms. Abby, 29, had been prevented from entering the country for two years under a government-issued temporary exclusion order (TEO).
Ms. Abby, originally from western Sydney, was among a group of Australian women who traveled to Syria to join ISIS. She was reportedly the only individual issued a TEO from a cohort of Australian women with IS ties who have since returned to the country. Last month, she was denied boarding a flight from Damascus to Sydney with other ISIS brides.
According to reports, Ms. Abby was offered the option for her disabled nine-year-old daughter to return to Australia with the other women, an offer she declined. Burke stated that his office received final advice indicating they could no longer maintain an exclusion condition for Ms. Abby. She formally requested to return to Australia, leading to the permit being issued on Wednesday night.
Upon her return, Ms. Abby will be subject to extensive monitoring by intelligence and security agencies. Government sources indicated that this surveillance will be significant and invasive. Conditions of her permit require her to report her place of residence and work, notify authorities if she plans to study, and provide 24 hours' notice before using any telecommunications devices.
Ms. Abby was among the first Australians to travel to Syria independently in December 2014, at the age of 18, along with her friend Hafsa Mohamed, then 20. They reportedly told their parents they were going on holiday before traveling to Turkey and crossing into Syria with aspirations of becoming jihadi brides. Ms. Mohamed was killed in the conflict zone in 2015, leaving Ms. Abby stranded. Her daughter, now nine, has disabilities resulting from shrapnel wounds sustained during the conflict.
Two groups of ISIS brides and their children had previously returned to Australia in May. Of those, four have since been charged with crimes-against-humanity offenses. Ms. Abby had been living at the al-Roj refugee camp in northeastern Syria since the fall of ISIS in 2019.