Return of IS supporters: Austria gets women and children back!

Return of IS supporters: Austria gets women and children back!

Wien, Österreich - The Austrian Foreign Ministry successfully brought two former IS supporters and their children back to Vienna from a prison camp in Iraq on Saturday. Among them was Maria G., a 27-year-old Salzburg woman who returned to the country with her two sons. The second returnee, Evelyne T., comes from Vienna. Both women had previously held up with their children in the Camp Roj internment camp in Syria, where they have been recorded since the defeat of IS, as reported Salzburger Nachrichten

The return took place on the order of the Federal Administrative Court, which had already ordered Maria G.'s return and her sons in October 2024. Previously, the Foreign Ministry had tried to bring Maria G.'s children to Austria for years, although it rejected this until the end. In the meantime, the women backed have to bear the costs for their return themselves. According to the Foreign Ministry, there are no more Austrian citizens in camps in Syria, which is a significant step for the government, which was faced with the corresponding security risks during the return process.

background of the return

Maria G. had traveled to Syria over Turkey in 2014 at the age of only 17 and joined IS. After the collapse of the terrorist regime, she was held together with her children in the Kurdish camp al-roj. The Austrian authorities, which initially only considered the return of the children, were forced to recover the entire family according to the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court. This was confirmed in a statement by the Foreign Ministry by emphasizing that the security of everyone involved is in the top priority. The complexity of the return plans is reinforced by the continuing fights in the region, which is why no further details could be published, as Die Krone reported.