Australian women and children held for years without charge were forced to return to a detention camp in northeast Syria on Monday after being released by Kurdish authorities for their expected repatriation to Australia.
The 34 women and children in the group are the wives, widows and children of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters and were being held at al-Roj camp, which is controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
They were initially handed over to relatives who had helped arrange for their repatriation and were on their way to Damascus to leave the country when they were asked to stop on the way and turn back to the camp.