Australian children are innocent and are not a threat. Prime Minister — BRING THEM HOME

"Their failure to repatriate these children, who should rightly be considered victims of terrorism and as children in need of protection under international law, beggars belief." — Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, UN Special Rapporteur

The UN official is referring to the foreign nationals forcibly detained in camps in northeast Syria since 2019. They include 41 Australian children, two thirds under the age of seven. All of them deeply traumatised, most malnourished, and many sick and injured with little access to medical care.

The UN has warned that detainees in these camps (Al-Hol and Al-Roj) are exposed to violence, exploitation, abuse and deprivation in conditions and treatment that may amount to torture or other inhuman treatment under international law.

The Australian government has made several excuses for not repatriating their citizens such as that it would be unsafe for our personnel to extract the detainees. But other countries have done exactly that including the US, UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

Beyond our indisputable legal obligations, Australia has a moral obligation to return these vulnerable innocent children home without further delay. Prime Minister, we urge you to do the decent thing, the humane thing, the right thing.