Australian woman charged over travel to Syria to join Islamic State

An Australian mother of four, Rayann El Houli, was arrested at her Melbourne home and held in custody after appearing in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court. She was charged with entering and remaining in a declared conflict zone and with joining the Islamic State group. Police alleged she traveled to Syria between 2013 and 2014 to join IS. The arrest followed multiple returns of women and children linked to IS from Syrian refugee camps, with some facing slavery and terrorism charges and remaining in custody. Other returnees remained under police investigation. Her bail application is scheduled for Monday, and her lawyer sought her return to her children, citing PTSD and the children’s school and sports activities.

"Rayann El Houli, 34, was arrested at her Melbourne home eight months after she returned to Australia via Lebanon with her children and another woman, police and her lawyer said. The arrest came two days after seven women and 12 children linked to IS returned to Australia from a Syrian refugee camp against the wishes of the Australian government. Three weeks ago, four women and nine children in similar circumstances returned from the same Roj camp for displaced people, which is located near the area where the frontiers of Syria, Turkey and Iraq converge."

"El Houli wore a black niqab when she appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court flanked by two prison officers. She was charged with entering and remaining in a declared conflict zone. She also has been charged with joining a terrorist organization, IS. Each charge carries a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Her bail application will be heard on Monday."

"Her lawyer Peter Morrissey told Magistrate Lisa Hannan that it was a priority to return El Houli, who suffers from PTSD, to her children. "The children are doing well in school, in (sports) programs, doing everything as best they can," Morrissey said. "They, too, have come from the camps and that's the reason for the haste," he added."

"Police allege El Houli traveled to Syria between 2013 and 2014 to join IS. A period of time passing without charges does indicate investigations have ceased, Sirec noted. Another woman, who accompanied El Houli to Australia from Lebanon, also was under investigation, Australia Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Hilda Sirec said. All the women who returned from Syria this month remained under police investigation."

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