Tony Burke Allows Hodan Abby Return After Temporary Exclusion Order Ends

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Thursday that the last Australian woman stranded in Syria over suspected links to Islamic State would be allowed to return home after authorities could no longer keep her under a temporary exclusion order.

The ABC reported that Hodan Abby had been granted a permit to return after initially being banned from Australia for two years in February, when she and 33 other Australian women and children held in Syria's al-Roj detention camp tried to return home.

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Reuters said the temporary exclusion order system lets the government ban an Australian citizen from returning home if it believes it could prevent that person from carrying out, supporting or being trained to carry out an act of terrorism, and that under the legislation a TEO can block re-entry for up to two years unless a return permit is applied for.

Burke told reporters that police and security agencies "are ready" and that Abby would be subject to strict surveillance conditions that go "absolutely to the legal limit of what we're able to," including requiring her to seek permission to use a phone or the internet.

The Conversation also described the legal mechanism as a temporary exclusion order that can apply for up to two years, with citizens able to apply for a permit to return to Australia when they are not dual citizens with another country.

Legal experts told the ABC that barring an Islamic State-linked Australian woman could have risked losing a High Court challenge to temporary exclusion orders.

Australian National University international law professor Donald Rothwell said, "Given the grey area when it comes to TEO's … government lawyers would no doubt be advising the minister that there's every possibility that a temporary exclusion order could be challenged in the High Court on constitutional grounds."

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The ABC reported that Rothwell argued there was a "clear tenet of international human rights law" and that it was considered an "implied" constitutional right, while noting the High Court had not previously tested whether citizens have a right of entry into Australia.

The federal opposition, through Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jono Duniam, said the situation "beggars belief" and argued the government should strengthen counterterrorism laws it has labelled as "weak," if permits cannot be refused.

Duniam told the ABC that "We won't know if we don't try" when asked whether tougher legislation could withstand a High Court challenge.

Multiple outlets said the woman’s return would come with stringent security conditions, including surveillance and limits on telecommunications, after the temporary exclusion order expired.

SBS Australia reported that the woman would need to give 24-hour notice before using any telecommunications device or logging on to social media, and quoted Burke saying, "There will be a very high level of scrutiny and surveillance, and we have gone absolutely to the legal limit that we're able to."

SBS Australia also quoted ASIO boss Mike Burgess saying, "The full use of my organisation's capability and powers will be used when this individual returns to this country," and described how ASIO assesses Australians who have been overseas in places like Syria and Iraq.

The Straits Times said three women were immediately arrested after returning to Australia earlier in 2026, charged with crimes ranging from slavery to joining a terrorist organisation.

BSS/AFP reported that the unnamed woman is the last of more than 30 women and children to return to Australia, and said Burke told lawmakers the government could not legally turn away one of its citizens once the temporary exclusion order had expired.