Hodan Abby, identified as the last Australian with links to the Islamic State, has been granted a permit to return to Australia, overturning a temporary exclusion order that had been in place for national security reasons. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed on Thursday that the exclusion order, initially intended to bar Abby for two years, is no longer active because she formally requested to return.
Burke explained that the temporary exclusion order was contingent on a permit not being requested. Once a permit is sought, he stated, it must lawfully be issued. "The temporary exclusion order applies until a permit is issued and when a permit is requested, a permit lawfully has to be issued," Burke told ABC's AM radio program. He indicated that his department, along with the Australian Federal Police and ASIO, has worked to impose the maximum possible conditions on Abby's return permit.
Abby's permit includes stringent monitoring measures, described by Burke as "significant and invasive surveillance." These conditions will require her to report her place of residence, employment, and studies, and to provide 24 hours' notice for any travel bookings. Furthermore, she must give 24 hours' notice before using any telecommunications device, including public phones, and any social media activity will be subject to similar notification requirements. "There will be a very high level of scrutiny and surveillance," Burke stated, adding that the government has reached the legal limit for such conditions.
Abby, 29, had previously been denied boarding a flight from Damascus to Sydney in May, at which point the exclusion order was confirmed. She was the sole Australian linked to ISIS who had not been permitted to return from refugee camps in Syria earlier this year. Her return date remains unspecified.
In May, two groups of ISIS brides and their children, totaling at least a dozen women and children, returned to Australia. Subsequently, four of these women have been charged with crimes against humanity. Abby originally traveled to Syria at age 18 in December 2014 with her friend Hafsa Mohamed, who was later killed in the conflict zone in 2015. Abby has remained in Syria and is accompanied by her nine-year-old daughter, who has suffered disabilities from shrapnel wounds sustained in the conflict.
Women described as 'ISIS brides' were recruited by the Islamic State group between 2012 and 2016 to marry fighters in Iraq or Syria. Following the fall of IS in 2019, many women and children were housed in refugee camps, such as Al-Roj in northeastern Syria. Earlier returns of individuals linked to ISIS include eight orphaned children in 2019 and four women with 13 children in 2022 under the previous government.