The Prime Minister has hit back at critics of Thursday’s ISIS brides storm with a stunning claim about who the real victims are. Follow our live coverage.

Four ISIS-linked women and nine children have returned to Australia, with chaotic scenes playing out at Sydney and Melbourne airports last night.

So called ISIS bride Janai Safar, 32, was arrested on arrival into Sydney International Airport, while two women, grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her daughter Zeinab Ahmad, 31, were arrested on arrival into Melbourne International Airport.

Australian Federal Police said a 53-year-old has been charged with four counts of crimes against humanity, and a 31-year-old has been charged with two counts of crimes against humanity.

The women are expected to face Melbourne Magistrates Court today.
A 32-year-old, believed to be Janai Safar, was earlier charged for allegedly entering and remaining in a declared conflict zone and being a member of a terrorist organisation. She will face Downing Centre Local Court today.

Kawsar Abbas’ other daughter, 33-year-old Zahra Ahmad, was not arrested, leaving Melbourne airport last night as a free woman.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the handling of the return of the ISIS brides and expressed sympathy for their children, who he said were the “victims” of their parents.

“One of the things that divides our society from the lawless barbarity of ISIS is we believe in the rule of law and that means if you are an Australian citizen, you have some entitlements.”

Mr Albanese hit back at criticism from the opposition and some in the media who had made comments that “they know are simply not true”.

“We provided no support for these people. They were not brought back,” he said.

“It is correct that the US government and others urged us to do so. We chose to make our own decisions as a sovereign state and not to provide them with any support. Because I have absolutely zero sympathy for these people. I do have sympathy for the children, though, who are victims of decisions that their parents have made.”

Picture: ABC

Speaking of the three women who arrived from Syria last night, he said: “They’ll be charged today, and appropriate actions will be taken by the authorities.”

“I have faith in our authorities, in the Australian Federal Police, in ASIO, in ASIS, in all of our security agencies.”

“Australian citizens do have rights, but we have a right as a government to ensure the law is upheld and these people will face the full force of the law.”

ISIS brides charged with slavery face court

Two of the so-called ISIS brides have appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court, where they revealed plans to seek bail.

Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her daughter, Zeinab Ahmad, 31, were arrested after they arrived in Melbourne from Syria last night.

Kawsar Abbas has been charged with four crimes against humanity offences of enslavement, possessing a slave, using a slave and engaging in slave trading. It will be alleged she travelled to Syria in 2014 with her husband and children, and was complicit in the purchase of a female slave for US$10,000 ($A13,870) and knowingly kept the woman in the home.

Zeinab Ahmad has been charged with two offences of enslavement and using a slave. It will be alleged she travelled to Syria in 2014 with her family and knowingly kept a female slave in the home.

Each of the charges carries a maximum term of 25 years’ imprisonment.

Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty

First in court, Kawsar Abbas took a quick glance around the courtroom before fixing on a group of supporters and smiling.

Her lawyer, Bill Doogue, told the court they would be applying for bail on Monday, a move echoed by Zeinab Ahmad’s lawyer Maya George minutes later.

Labor vows to ‘keep Australians safe’

The Albanese government “will spend what we need to spend to keep Australians safe”, a senior minister has vowed while pressed on the cost of monitoring a group of Australians with alleged links to ISIS.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told ABC’s Radio National that Canberra “would support the efforts of the state governments, the police, and the intelligence agencies” in managing returnees and she expected “the opposition would have done exactly the same when they were in government”.

She also urged trust in the AFP and security agencies, repeating federal police remarks that plans to manage returnees from Syria had been in place since 2014.

“Indeed, around 45 men, including foreign fighters, have returned to Australia from 2013 to 2021,” Senator Gallagher said.

“This is managed absolutely appropriately by the police and by our intelligence agencies.

“The government remains briefed on all aspects of that, of course, as you would expect. And we follow that advice very closely.”

However, the Coalition has insisted the latest returnees are different to the more than 40 ISIS-linked individuals who returned to Australia when it was in government, with opposition frontbencher Sarah Henderson declaring Thursday night’s arrivals a “national security scandal”.

Who are the ISIS brides who returned to Australia?

As three women prepare to face court today, here’s what we know about the so-called ISIS brides who have returned to Australia.

Kawsar Abbas

The 53-year-old is from Melbourne. She is the mother of Zahra and Zeinab.

She is the wife of Mohammed Ahmad, who ran a charity to support the people of Syria that the AFP believed was funnelling money to Islamic State.

The family first travelled to Syria in 2014 for a family wedding, they say this was before realising that their son, Omar, had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

‘$10k for a slave’: Charges against ISIS brides

The two so-called ISIS brides who arrived in Melbourne last night have been charged.

The two women, believed to be grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her daughter Zeinab Ahmed, 31, were arrested on arrival at Melbourne International Airport last night.

Australian Federal Police said this morning a 53-year-old has been charged with four counts of crimes against humanity, including enslavement.

Authorities will allege she travelled to Syria in 2014 with her husband and children, and was complicit in the purchase of a female slave for US$10,000 ($A13,870) and knowingly kept the woman in the home.

Picture: AFP

The 31-year-old was charged with two counts of crimes against humanity, including enslavement.

It will be alleged she travelled to Syria in 2014 with her family and knowingly kept a female slave in the home.

The offences each carry a maximum penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment. The women will front Melbourne Magistrates Court today.

Zeinab Ahmad: Picture: ABC News

It comes after a third woman, believed to be Janai Safar, was earlier charged for allegedly entering and remaining in a declared conflict zone and being a member of a terrorist organisation.

Both offences carry a maximum penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

She will face Downing Centre Local Court today.

‘Shut up’: Supporter’s disturbing remark

Disturbing scenes erupted at Melbourne Airport last night, with footage capturing the moment a supporter of an ISIS bride told a female journalist to “shut up you s**t” – while a reporter from Channel 10 claims she was “gut punched” in the stomach.

The journalist was among reporters who approached Zahra Ahmad as she was escorted out of the airport by a group of men.

“Why did you marry an ISIS terrorist?” the journalist attempted to ask Ahmad.

“Shut up you s**t,” a man in the group replied.

The journalist continued to attempt to ask questions as the group moved through the airport, including whether Ahmad’s children have been radicalised and what her plans are now that she’s landed in Melbourne.

She received no response.

10 News reported that men hurled “vulgar abuse” at female journalists, and that one was “gut punched” in the stomach.

4:55 AM
May 08, 2026

HIGHLIGHT

‘Planning for more than a decade’: Butler

Health Minister Mark Butler said Australian law enforcement agencies had been planning “for this day for more than a decade.”

“As we had been warning these women for some time, if they made their own way back to Australia, they’d face the full consequences of their actions,” Mr Butler told Sunrise.

“Including legal consequences, they have already been charged, in a matter of hours, with enslavement offenses, membership of a terrorist organization and being in a declared area.

“And that really follows more than a decade of intelligence and evidence gathering by our national security agencies.”ISSI bride’s plea for Australians’ mercy

Zahra Ahmad, the widow of a notorious Islamic State recruiter who previously pleaded with Australians not to ‘judge’ the ISIS brides, left Melbourne airport last night as a free woman.

Over a decade after marrying notorious Islamic State recruiter Muhammad Zahab – a former Australian maths teacher who died in an airstrike in 2018 – she walked through the airport amid chaotic scenes, protected by family members.

Three of the four adult women who travelled to the region over a decade ago were arrested on Thursday night, including her mother Kawsar Abbas, her sister Zeinab and their friend Janai Safar, who landed in Sydney.

Zahra Ahmad (centre) arrving on Thursday night. Picture: NewsWire / Jason Edwards

She could be seen smiling. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty

Her mother and sister were taken into custody and are expected to be charged with crimes against humanity, stemming from claims that the family kept Yazidi slaves.

ISIS brides escorted out of Sydney Airport

Police footage shows the moment ISIS bride Janai Safar, 32, was arrested and taken into custody at Sydney Airport, leaving her nine-year-old son behind with family.

The former nursing student who left Australia in her early twenties wore black trainers and a green headscarf. She was clutching a neck pillow from the flight as she climbed into a mini bus en route to Mascot police station.

She was later photographed staring calmly straight ahead as cameras flashed around the car.

A woman was taken into custody upon landing at Sydney airport. Picture: AFP

Her arrest followed chaotic scenes in Melbourne, where two members of her extended family were arrested. It is expected they will be charged with crimes against humanity connected with allegations the family kept slaves.

Safar is expected to face Downing Centre Local Court on Friday. She was charged with multiple offences including being a member of a terrorist organisation.

Grandma, 31yo daughter expecting charges

Melbourne grandmother Kawsar Abbas and her 31-year-old daughter are also expected to be charged with crimes against humanity.

The so-called ISIS brides, who returned from the Middle East on Thursday night after spending over a decade in the region, were arrested at Melbourne International Airport.

A fourth woman, another daughter of Ms Abbas who was not charged with any offences, was met with chaotic scenes upon her exit from Melbourne’s Terminal 2.

A massive group of supporters had been waiting to escort the woman and the eight children she had been travelling with, through the throng of reporters.

Dressed mostly in black, with some wearing hoodies and face masks, the burly entourage pushed the party past the large media contingent and into a waiting mini bus.