The lawyers acting on behalf of the women argue that yes, Australia has a constitutional duty to repatriate citizens and apply due process. These legal obligations, they say, include a duty to investigate crimes of an international nature, and to protect Australian citizens who are detained overseas. Policy experts also say that the state has a duty to take the children of those mothers who are radicalized into state custody. Peter Dutton, the home affairs minister, has repeatedly brought up this process as a hurdle to repatriating the women and children. At the moment, the fate of the women and children is unclear.

Source: New York Times October 25, 2019 01:18 UTC