As the US moves to withdraw troops the window to safely move children and women is rapidly closing, families say

This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

Family members of Australians held in detention camps in northern Syria have begged the Australian government to “act urgently” to bring their relatives to safety, as a US withdrawal from the region overtly greenlights a Turkish military offensive.

Kamalle Dabboussy, whose daughter Mariam and three grandchildren are in Al-Hawl camp in north-east Syria, told the Guardian “the window is rapidly closing” to bring women and children caught in the camps to safety.

“We’ve been warning the government for months that the window to act is closing. There is still a chance to move these women and children to safety, but the future is uncertain. The window will close quickly.

US to let Turkish forces move into Syria, abandoning Kurdish allies Read more

“We’ve already told the government they need to enact their plan for these Australians, and they need to act with a sense of urgency.”

But foreign affairs minister Marise Payne said while the Australian government remains concerned for the welfare of Australians held in the Syrian camps, “as we have made clear, we will not put Australian officials, forces or our public in danger so any repatriation will occur only if safe to do so”.

Late Sunday night US time, Donald Trump announced the US was moving its forces out of the area, effectively greenlighting a Turkish offensive into northern Syria, and abandoning long-time allies, the Kurds.

Turkey will now take custody of captured Isis fighters, their wives and children, the White House said.

Dabboussy, whose daughter Mariam was reportedly coerced by a relative into going to Syria, said the feeling on the ground was one of apprehension, not of Turkish control itself, but of a resistance to any Turkish offensive plunging the volatile region back into war. Any transition from Kurdish to Turkish control is unlikely to be smooth.

“People in the camps fear there will be another war, there will be resistance [to a Turkish invasion] and more conflict. They are sitting behind fences … caught in a very unstable region. People are concerned about the transition to power.”

Dabboussy said other countries with citizens caught in the post-war camps had successfully repatriated their citizens.

“The Middle East is a very unstable place, and when you have a window of stability you need to use it. The status quo was stable, and it was not difficult to foresee a destabilising impact of some sort. I would suggest it’s a lost opportunity.”

Child rights and welfare NGO Save the Children is operating in the Syrian camps.

“There was always a limited window of opportunity for the Australian government to accept assistance from the United States in order to repatriate the Australian children and women languishing in camps in northeast Syria,” Save the Children Australia chief executive Paul Ronalds said.

“With the news that the US will withdraw its forces that window is rapidly closing. We urge the Australian government to urgently move the Australian children and women in the camps to safety, with a view to repatriating them.”

Ronalds said the movement of women and children from the camps to safety must be “an immediate priority”.

“There are more than 40 Australian children in the camps – most under the age of five – who have lived through conflict, bombardment and acute deprivation. These children are innocent victims of the conflict and must be treated as such.”

Kurdish forces, supported by the US, have spearheaded the campaign against terror group Isis in the region, but Trump’s dramatically altered policy after a phone conversation with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has left the region deeply uncertain over its future.

“The Kurds have sacrificed an enormous amount in this conflict,” Dabboussy told the Guardian. “To lose the Kurds as an ally, to betray the Kurds in this way, they may be forced to look for other allies in the region, for instance Iran and Russia. It’s hugely disappointing.”

For months Erdoğan has been threatening to launch a military assault on the Kurdish forces in northern Syria.

In August, the US and Turkey came to an agreement to create a “safe zone” in the region, by which US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would pull back from the border.

Ankara regards the SDF as essentially indistinguishable from Kurdish insurgents inside Turkey and views the organisation as a terrorist front and a serious internal security threat. The safe zone deal was due to forestall a Turkish military offensive.

In his White House statement, Trump said he had spoken to Erdoğan by phone, and Turkey would “soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into northern Syria”.

US forces would not support or be involved in the operation, he said.

Bob Carr, a former Labor foreign affairs minister, said Trump’s decision was “a devastating blow to US credibility” not just in the region but across the world, and Australia “ought to be a bit more realistic and down to earth”.

Speaking on Sky News on Tuesday, Carr predicted Australian defence leaders would be seeking urgent clarification, given Australia’s assistance with advice, training and aerial oversight in the region.

There had been a lot of “heady romanticism” about the US alliance but it was clear the US would put its own interests above those of its allies, Carr added.

He said other countries that had allied with the US would be wondering “if a US president can make a decision like this and give effect to it within hours … then how can you count on American guarantees anywhere?”

Trump’s statement specifically condemned “France, Germany and other European nations” for refusing to take back captured fighters, and said Turkey would now be responsible for those captured foreign fighters and their family members held in camps.

“The United States will not hold them for what could be many years and at great cost to the United States taxpayer,” he said.

Payne said the Australian government was in close consultation with allies about Trump’s unilateral decision.

“The Australian government urges restraint by all parties to the conflict in Syria, and calls for all to avoid escalatory actions that cause further instability and added risks of humanitarian suffering.”

Bring back children of Syria Isis fighters, Save the Children urges Australia Read more

While not named in the statement, Australia also has more than 60 citizens in the camps, where around 70,000 family members of fighters are being held.

During the Australian prime minister Scott Morrison’s recent US visit, Trump had threatened to leave foreign fighters at the borders of their home countries, but Morrison said the question of Australia’s citizens did not form part of the bilateral talks.

While some children of Australian foreign fighters have been brought back to Australia, 66 women and children remain.

Morrison maintains the government will not risk any Australian life to bring back adults.

“There are some quite hideous things that are occurring in these camps and there are some pretty hideous people in them who don’t want to do Australia any favours,” he told Sky News last week.

“Let’s not assume that the individuals, particularly the adults, who are involved here don’t present any potential threat to Australia.

“That would be a big mistake to make.”

On social media, the SDF’s coordination and military operations centre said following the agreement struck with the US, the SDF withdrew military fortifications, combat forces and heavy weapons from the border area. Now the unilateral US withdrawal risked creating a “zone of conflict and permanent war”.

The SDF said any Turkish attack would reverse the successful effort to defeat Isis, “where the SDF sacrificed 11,000 martyrs of our sons and daughters over five years”, draw Isis leaders in hiding back into conflict in north-eastern Syria and create a long-term war in the region, “making Syria a permanent conflict area”.