MELBOURNE, Australia: Two Qatar Airways planes landed at two different airports carrying Australian women and children with alleged ties to the Islamic State group on May 7.

One aircraft carrying three Australian women and eight children landed in Melbourne, while the second plane arrived in Sydney soon after with a woman and her son.

The Australian government announced on May 6 that the 13, who have spent years in a Syrian desert camp, planned to return to Australia. Police said the women face potential criminal charges relating to their alleged time in the Islamic State group's so-called caliphate that spanned Syria and Iraq.

Two flights left Doha just minutes apart, heading to Australia's two biggest cities. Flight QR904 landed first in Melbourne, and then flight QR908 arrived in Sydney.

The Australian government had criticized the women for going to Syria and supporting Islamic State militants, and it had refused to bring them back home.

Police have been investigating for over ten years whether Australians were involved in serious crimes in Syria, including terrorism and crimes against humanity like slave trading.

Deakin University expert Joshua Roose said authorities are looking into abuses in the Islamic State's rule, such as forcing Yazidi women into slavery and strict enforcement of religious laws.

He said that women actually carried out some of the worst violence, so it is important to recognize this issue.

In 2024, the aid group Save the Children lost a court case where it tried to force the Australian government to bring back its citizens from camps in Syria.

Save the Children Australia's CEO, Mat Tinkler, said the government should now focus on the children who have returned.

He pointed out that about two-thirds of the group are children, and while much attention has been on the women, the priority should now be helping these children rebuild a normal life in Australia.

Australian governments have brought back women and children from Syrian camps twice before, while some others have returned on their own without government help.