Australian women and children held in Syria since the fall of the Islamic State have begun the journey home.
Held in detention since 2019, four women and 13 children were taken from the al-Roj camp to Erbil in Iraq to begin their trip to Sydney.
Earlier this month, the Albanese government confirmed a rescue plan to bring home 16 women and 42 children who are families of IS members.
The first people removed were assessed as the most vulnerable of those held.
The federal government worked with Kurdish authorities on the extraction, which reportedly included DNA testing the individuals to prove they were Australian citizens.
Most of the children were born in Syria, meaning they'll be heading to Australia for the first time.
Germany, France and Denmark have also brought their citizens home from Syria.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil refused to comment, citing sensitivity issues.
Save the Children Australia CEO Mat Tinkler said it was an important milestone in a “long and heart-wrenching journey” for the children and their families.
“We look forward to welcoming them home,” he said.
“We highly commend the Australian government for following through on its promise to repatriate these innocent children and their mothers.
“They have given these children hope for their futures and rightly backed the robustness of Australia’s national security, judicial and resettlement systems to support their safe integration into Australian society.”
He said there were still more than 30 Australian children stuck in the camps in northeast Syria and urged the government to repatriate them as quickly as possible.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton warned the extractions were not in the national interest, claiming the rescues could inflame the risk of terrorism in Australia.
“Because we haven’t seen on our television screens an attack in Paris or London or Melbourne or Sydney for some time, we think the threat has passed - it hasn’t passed,” he told Sky News.
“I received a briefing from the director-general of security only a couple of weeks ago ... on my collective experience, and what I know, I don’t think it’s in our country’s best interests.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the safety of Australians was always paramount.
“We'll continue to act on national security advice, which is what we have done up to this point and what the former government did as well,” he told reporters on Friday.
“We will always act in a way that keeps Australians safe.”
Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo declined to comment on the repatriation or confirm it was occurring.
But a Senate estimates committee was told the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet was looking at whether media reporting breached national security.
“Given the seriousness of the potential harm to national security ... we were involved in discussions about the referral,” he said.
“Operational secrecy is to be preserved at all times.”
Pezzullo also confirmed there were still Australian women and children in Syrian camps.
Sydney man Kamalle Dabboussy, the father and grandfather of one of the Australian women and three children in the camp, has expressed hope the detainees will soon be returned safely.
