Face of Nation : The threat comes amid ongoing debate about tough new foreign fighter laws which will come before the Senate today.
Eighteen women and children, including two newborn babies who are the youngest Australians detained in Syria, are involved in the proposed legal action. They are from three separate Melbourne families, and at least six of them are children aged seven years or younger. The identity of the families was not released.
Letters seen show that lawyers for the detainees will refer the matter for proceedings in the Federal Court after the Government rejected that it had any obligation to rescue them.
In the letter, lawyer Sarah Condon said the Government had a legal obligation to investigate crimes under Australian law, and a duty to protect Australian citizens abroad who are civilians affected by a non-international armed conflict. Her clients may fall into one of those two categories, Ms Condon wrote.
The Government, via the Australian Government Solicitor’s office, rejected this argument, saying that either the duties do not exist or do not apply to the circumstances of the detainees. This is despite Mr Dutton saying on June 16: “We need to provide protection for Australian citizens, in particular infants and children.”
The office also reiterated the difficulty in safely repatriating Australians from Syria, but did not acknowledge that eight children had already been returned to Australia regardless of these difficulties. The Australian Government Solicitor’s office declined to comment in more detail to the ABC about its response to the legal threat.
It referred the ABC to the Department of Home Affairs, which said in a statement that it was closely monitoring the situation in Syria and remained “conscious of the particular needs of children”.
A department spokesman noted that Mr Morrison said last month that there was “no blanket policy” and each case would be “assessed on its merits”. Lawyers for the families will now refer the matter for proceedings in the Federal Court, where they will seek an order compelling the Government to act. The case is expected to be filed in coming weeks.
