<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prime Minister </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/anthony-albanese" rel="" target="_blank" title="Anthony Albanese"><span>Anthony Albanese</span></a><span> has voiced compassion for the 23 </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national" rel="" target="_blank" title="Australian "><span>Australian</span></a><span> children detained in Syria, but remained defiant against their desperate pleas to return home.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 11 women, dubbed the ISIS brides, and their 23 children are hoping to return to Australia after a false start earlier this month, which saw them turned back to the Roj detention camp on a technicality.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One of the children, aged just nine years old, has asked the Australian government to "please save us".</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/one-in-six-households-struggling-to-pay-power-bills-as-rebates-vanish/8c2c6526-9c64-4cdc-92b3-340ea39478a6" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>One in six households struggling to pay power bills as rebates vanish</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was very upset. I was heartbreaking. I was crying out. I told my mum, I don't want to go back to the prison. I want to go home," she said in </span><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/i-saw-houses-for-the-first-time-australia-s-syrian-children-tell-us-about-their-life-20260225-p5o5d6.html" rel="" target="_blank" title="a video shared by The Sydney Morning Herald"><span>a video shared by </span><em><span>The Sydney Morning Herald</span></em></a><span> today</span><em><span>.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The cohort's return has been a topic of fierce debate after the government admitted they held Australian passports, with politicians arguing whether they pose a national security threat.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Albanese, who has insisted that "they made their bed, they have to lie in it", has this morning repeated his uncompromising stance.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/isis-brides-prime-minister-anthony-albanese-defiant-as-australian-children-in-syria-plead-to-come-home/6a3b7560-1a4b-4672-84f7-df20e1b45485" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We've said that what we aren't doing is providing repatriation of these people," he told reporters.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We've said that we have compassion for the children involved, but that others who chose to travel to that area have made those decisions in life.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/jobs-lost-to-ai-just-the-begininng-of-major-workplace-changes-expert-says/369fe363-ae0b-4c21-a58c-b598db326220" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>AI bringing 'structural reset' as thousand of jobs lost, expert says</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"And that was a decision that was certainly contrary to not just Australian advice, but contrary to Australia's national interest."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie was less fazed by the children's pleas, saying "we do not want these women or their children back here at home".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These women left a safe, prosperous, free country like ours to go fight in a war and support a war effort that was going to set up the Islamic State and raise these Australian children under Sharia law," she told </span><em><span>Today</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They lost that war and now we're seeing, I think, the outcome of that."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 34 Australians have been held at the Roj detention camp for almost seven years since the fall of the so-called caliphate in Syria due to their alleged ties to Islamic State fighters.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/trapped-south-africa-miners-presumed-dead/f70fdad1-9ea0-4151-a13f-61dfb77458cd" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Diamond mine says trapped miners presumed dead and files for liquidation</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Earlier this month, they were turned back on an unspecified technicality after leaving for the airport in Damascus.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Later, Home Affairs Minister </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/isis-bride-banned-from-returning-minister-confirms-passports/89c77960-817b-4759-b7aa-6a7c1b2ff32c" rel="" target="_blank" title="Tony Burke admitted the group had Australian passports"><span>Tony Burke admitted the group had Australian passports</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Burke said he was unable to legally deny passports or issue temporary exclusion orders to all but </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australian-citizen-exclusion-order-alleged-links-islamic-state/158461d8-3da7-4e7d-a80b-6adbba5dbf7d" rel="" target="_blank" title="one woman who has been banned from returning to Australia"><span>one woman who has been banned from returning to Australia</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/new-south-wales" rel="" target="_blank" title="NSW "><span>NSW</span></a><span> Premier Chris Minns on Monday revealed he has been speaking with the federal government about the cohort's potential return since late last year, as one-third are expected to resettle in the state. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I worry about where these children will be in the years ahead, and I worry about what the consequences of doing nothing for them if they did return to Australia would be," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The remaining two-thirds are expected to return to </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/victoria" rel="" target="_blank" title="Victoria"><span>Victoria</span></a><span>. Premier Jacinta Allan has not commented on the matter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/flooding-in-four-states-tropical-low-central-australia/9524b5e0-07b7-46bd-bd19-e7799597473c" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>'Highly unusual' weather system floods four states at once</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Federal Opposition Leader </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/coalition-pushes-to-criminalise-help-for-isis-brides/973d61c5-4557-485d-be8d-e5aba8991a61" rel="" target="_blank" title="Angus Taylor will introduce legislation into parliament"><span>Angus Taylor will introduce legislation into parliament</span></a><span> to criminalise anyone helping ISIS-linked families return to Australia.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Labor needs to be upfront with the Australian people about what is going on here. But most of all, Labor needs to support this legislation, which will help to protect Australians and protect our way of life," he said earlier this week.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meanwhile, the Greens and organisations like Save the Children Australia are calling for the government to help the children return safely, adding that they are not responsible for the actions of their parents.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>