Kirsty Rose-Emile is a 30-year-old mother from Melbourne who loves hip-hop music, NBA basketball, and focuses on fitness and nutrition. However, she now resides in a place called "Australian Street," along with dozens of other Australians, but it's very far from her home country. This situation highlights the complex challenges faced by individuals caught in conflict zones and the long road to rebuilding their lives.
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02-23, 2025"Australian Street" is located in a camp deep in the Syrian desert, 30 kilometers from the Iraqi border. Ms. Rose-Emile was captured after Kurdish forces defeated the Islamic State terrorist organization in March 2019 and has been detained in this camp for six years. She told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): "You don't know my story, you don't know why I'm here, I didn't come here voluntarily." Her words underscore the importance of understanding the individual circumstances of those detained in such camps.
Ms. Rose-Emile stated that lawyers had advised her not to reveal how she lived under Islamic State control in Syria. During an ABC interview at the Al Roj camp, both Ms. Rose-Emile and her friend, Zeenab Ahmed, 29, declined to discuss how and why they lived under Islamic State control in Syria. "It's not because I don't want to answer, but our lawyers have advised us to only talk about the situation in the camp," Ms. Ahmed said. Ms. Rose-Emile called her story "very unique" and stated, "I can't talk too much about it here because it could get me into trouble." This legal constraint further complicates their situation and limits their ability to share their experiences.
They are among dozens of Australians being held in camps and prisons in northeastern Syria since the U.S.-led coalition defeated the so-called "caliphate." The Australian government has stated that they are unclear about exactly how many Australians are being held in northeastern Syria, but Ms. Ahmed said at the Al Roj camp that there are 14 Australian women there, who have a total of 22 children. Zeenab Ahmed stated that those living on "Australian Street" all want to return to Australia. Approximately 2,600 people live in the Al Roj camp, most of whom are originally from foreign countries. According to Save the Children, eight countries, including Spain, France, and Canada, repatriated approximately 180 people last year. Some other countries are still struggling to figure out how to handle their citizens, many of whom have been living in the camps for years.
"This is not a place for a child to be, and every day, especially the past two months, every day gets harder and harder," Ms. Ahmed said. "Everyone knows [in the camp] there's a street, it's called 'Australian Street'. We live close together, we have a strong connection between us because we all have the same motivation. We all want to go home." Neither woman was willing to talk about their husbands. Ms. Rose-Emile's husband, Nabil Kadmiri, an older Moroccan man, was reportedly stripped of his Australian citizenship in 2019 for fighting with the Islamic State. He is believed to be held in a Kurdish prison. Middle East analyst Roger Shanahan, who has been studying Australians who joined the Islamic State for years, said Ms. Ahmed's husband, Dawoud Elmir, was killed in 2016 during coalition operations against the Islamic State in Syria.
Since the collapse of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government in December, new concerns have arisen regarding the fate of tens of thousands of detainees in northeastern Syria. This followed less than two weeks after smaller rebel attacks escalated into a large-scale offensive against government-controlled areas in Syria's northwestern Aleppo province. Syrian government forces retreated and, along with their allies, attempted to halt the rebels' rapid advance south of Damascus through airstrikes and shelling. But by December 8, the rebels stormed into Damascus, Mr. Assad fled, and celebrations spread throughout Syria. These rebels are known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), or the Syrian rebels, formerly al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, known as the al-Nusra Front. HTS has been designated as a terrorist organization by Australia, the UN Security Council, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
Now, Turkish and Syrian rebel forces are attacking the Kurdish militias guarding Islamic State prisoners and detainees. The new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has also cut funding for camp food and services. "That means we won't be able to get basic supplies like rice, lentils, oil, and cooking services like gas, kerosene... now these services are limited and have been stopped for a while," Ms. Rose-Emile said. "So we don't know if it will continue after this period, so we won't be able to cook, we won't be able to keep warm in the winter, so it's difficult." The reduction in essential resources exacerbates the already dire living conditions in the camp.
The two women stated that Australian officials traveled to Al Roj in the second half of 2022 to conduct risk assessments, health checks, and DNA testing on the Australians. Then, in October of that year, they brought four families back to Australia from the camp. "They took the first group, we were so happy that some of us could leave, that some of our children could be saved," Ms. Ahmed said. "Once they took them, there was a strong backlash, there was a strong backlash when the news was announced, and then they never came back." If Ms. Ahmed and Ms. Rose-Emile return to Australia, they may be prosecuted or subjected to supervision.
The Department of Home Affairs did not answer ABC's questions about why Australia has not brought back the remaining women, nor whether efforts are being made to repatriate them. The Department of Home Affairs stated that they are monitoring the security situation in Syria. "These conflicts are a considerable distance from the internally displaced persons camps and detention centers," the Department of Home Affairs said in a statement. The two women have not been charged with any crimes in Syria, but if they are brought back to Australia, they may face charges or be subject to control orders. Ms. Rose-Emile's social media accounts reportedly contained material supporting the Islamic State in 2014, and she said she is not a danger to anyone in Australia, but is in constant danger in the camp. "These people yell at me, or throw rocks at me, because I don't cover my face, or because they think I'm an infidel now, just because of my personality, or I listen to music, or the clothes I wear, etc.," she said. "So for me, it's very difficult to continue living here." When asked if she regretted joining the Islamic State, she replied: "I don't want to answer that question."
Ms. Ahmed said she has become more afraid in recent months. She said she has not slept since December 8 – the day the Assad regime collapsed in Syria. "I feel unsafe. I have severe anxiety," she said. "We don't know what's going to happen. I don't know what's going to happen to our children. It's terrifying. We are willing to abide by any regulations that need to be abided by upon arrival. We're not saying we want a free ride. Please just hear us out." Experts say that for the well-being of the children living in the Syrian camps, these families should be repatriated to Australia.
Dr. Shanahan said the government needs to consider multiple things. "It may not necessarily be the actual risk of carrying out an attack, but it may be that they [may] be unrepentant jihadists who reject secular liberalism, and may conceal that in order to return to Australia, but then continue to propagate their particular worldview, which may influence current or future Australians," he said. "So you need to be concerned about both the immediate physical risk and the longer-term ideological risk from these sorts of people, because after all, they trekked a long way to join an organization that posed a threat to Australians and that Australian forces fought against." This highlights the complex considerations involved in repatriating individuals with potential extremist views.
The Kurdish government and international humanitarian organizations have long urged countries like Australia to repatriate their citizens and their children, both for their own well-being and to help address the problems in the camps. Clark Jones, a criminologist at the Australian National University who has worked in the field of extremism for many years, said Australia has shown that it can manage the risks of repatriating these families. "The government has spent millions of dollars on countering violent extremism and counter-terrorism strategies," he said. "The government really needs to walk the talk and utilize those resources and utilize that training to support these people. If we look at the history of repatriating women and children around the world... there hasn't been a lot of trouble as a result of repatriating women and children. The statistics are very low. Certainly, in Australia, there have been no offenses committed by any returning women or returning children."
Some families who were held in the Al Roj detention camp for many years have already returned to Australia. Both Dr. Shanahan and Dr. Jones believe that the well-being of the children in the camps should be prioritized, and that these families should be repatriated for this reason. "Younger children, [the] longer they spend in this environment, the more likely they are to be influenced by that environment," Dr. Jones said. "The sooner the Australian government can get them out of these camps and bring them back to face the criminal justice system or other forms of support, the better they will be."
Ms. Rose-Emile said she wants to become a lifeguard and learn to dance when she returns to Australia. She teared up at the thought of reuniting with her mother. "I'm just waiting for the day I leave here, get on the plane back to Australia, see my mom at the airport, run to her and hug her," she said. "I want to see my children thrive in school and education, do everything with them, go to the beach." Her message to the Australian government is: "Hello, I'm here. Can you please finally come and get me and my children and all the other Australians here? We are ready to restart our lives."
