Australia should allow jihadi brides to return as it would make the country safer: Experts
Terror experts have said that Australia will be safer in the long run is jihadi/ ISIS brides stranded in Syria are allowed to return to the country.
Returnees from the Islamic State have become a divisive issue, with a debate raging in many countries whether to allow them back.
According to 7News, Deakin University terror and security expert Dr. Greg Barton believes that an open-arms approach would help reduce the spread of radicalization.
Barton shared that refusing them the right to return to Australia post the collapse of ISIS could increase the chances of them using social media to attack the country and also brainwash and recruit new people to join the radical Islamist cause.
Barton shared, "If we bring them back, we will know where they are."
His comments echo the growing pressure on the Australian government to bring back scores of Australian ISIS brides living in the northern part of Syria and Iraq. At least 30 Australians are stranded at the Al-Hawl refugee camp post the fall of the ISIS stronghold located at Baghouz.
Among the women who are stuck in Syria is Kirsty Rosse-Emile, who had moved to Syria in 2014 along with her husband and the children of a dead Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf.
Barton claims that leaving these women overseas could increase their chances of reconnecting with jihadists. "They will be back online reaching out to Australians here and recruiting, and their story becomes all the more powerful because they have been refused the right of return," Barton said.
"They are most dangerous not physically but digitally, as they turn up virtually in social media in family homes everywhere," he continued.
He further added how a 2014 legislation made it an offense to be in an IS territory which resulted in security agencies having the power to monitor and control communications.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Dr. John Coyne believes that their radical beliefs may easily pass on to the next generation if they are not allowed to return.
"You are reinforcing all that their parents have told them about the West, all those key messages about the west hating Muslims are reinforced," he said.
"And when they are rolling around the world, we can't control them, we can't control their activities ... we cannot stop them from recruiting others," Coyne continued.
According to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the government was working hand in hand with the Red Cross in order to process the return of Australian women and children.
While stating that it was "appalling" that Australians would join the IS, he said, "I'm not going to put one Australian life at risk to try and extract people from these dangerous situations."