3 Australian Women Back From Syria Face Slavery and Terrorism Charges Over Alleged IS Links

Three Australian women were refused bail when they appeared in courts on Friday charged with slavery and terrorism offenses after they arrived home from Syria with another 10 others whom police allege are linked to the Islamic State group.

The four women and nine children, who have spent years in Roj camp in the Syrian desert, landed on two Qatar Airways flights from Doha on Thursday despite the Australian government warning they would face charges if they returned.

Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her daughter Zeinab Ahmed, 31, were charged in a Melbourne court in relation to allegations that their family bought a female Yazidi slave for $10,000, police said in a statement.

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Abbas, her husband and children traveled in 2014 to Syria, which was then the center of IS’s co-called caliphate, police allege.

Abbas was complicit in buying the slave, who was kept in the family home, police allege.

The mother was charged with four crimes against humanity under Australian law, and the daughter was charged with two slavery crimes. {snip}

Both women were detained by Kurdish forces in March 2019 and have been held with other family members at Roj camp since.

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Janai Safar, 32, was arrested at Sydney Airport and charged with being a member of a terrorist organization and with entering or remaining in a region controlled by a terrorist organization. {snip}

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