Overview

• Six people, including women and children, left detention camps in north‑east Syria and returned to Australia after transiting through Lebanon.
• Lebanese authorities detained the group for lacking valid entry records, then processed them as Australian agencies conducted identity, security and DNA checks.
• Australian passports were issued in Beirut before the group flew home on commercial flights, according to multiple reports.
• The government maintains it is not assisting or repatriating people from Syrian camps and says agencies had monitored these individuals and are prepared to protect community safety.
• Opposition figures demanded explanations about what the government knew, while roughly 40 Australian citizens—mostly children—remain in al-Hol and Roj, where international agencies report volatile and life‑threatening conditions; Australia previously carried out limited returns in 2019 and 2022.