Aussie poll: IS brides not wanted back

CANBERRA - Most voters believe that Australian Islamic State brides and children trapped in Syrian refugee camps should not be allowed to return to Australia, according to a poll.

Newspoll, an Australian opinion polling operator, revealed that 59 percent of the more than 1,600 eligible voters surveyed did not support the repatriation of the 20 Australian women and 46 children stuck in Syria. The findings were published by The Australian newspaper on Tuesday.

This view was shared equally among men and women. Only 15 percent of the respondents were strongly in favor of bringing them home. However, 39 percent were strongly opposed to ever allowing them to return, and 20 percent were "somewhat" opposed.

Meanwhile, the Australian government reiterated its position that it would not bring home the women and children because it was still unsafe for Australian forces to enter the war zone.

Among other problems are the lack of available resources to monitor the women should they return to Australia, amid concerns that some could have been radicalized, according to The Australian report.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said last week that it was still too dangerous to send Australian troops into the region.

"We've been able to bring back some orphans, as you know, but we're not in a position where we're able to go into those camps," he said. "It's a tragedy that the parents, mothers and fathers have made a decision to take children into a theater of war, but we've been very clear we're not going to put Australian Defence, Foreign Affairs, or Home Affairs personnel or other agency staff at risk."

Xinhua