Australia Prevents Suspected Jihadi Child Bride From Leaving Sydney
A child bride bound for Lebanon was intercepted by Australian authorities at Sydney airport last Sept. 26. Reports said the 14-year-old girl was saved from an arranged marriage in Lebanon at the last minute. The Daily Telegraph reported that the teenager was with her uncle when the authorities arrived. A joint investigation response team had learned about her plight.
After questioning that lasted for hours, the two were released but were given strict instructions not to leave the country, according to Immigration Minister Scott Morrison. The young girl's name is understood to be on an airport watch list as both the state and federal government keep track of children at risk.
The Australian government has been on the lookout for cases of arranged marriages following the social media campaign of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria extremists to lure young girls to marry terrorists. A spokesperson has confirmed that one male adult and a female minor were stopped from boarding their flight at Sydney airport. The claim that it was related to counter-terrorism was denied. To protect the privacy of the minor, no other details were revealed.
According to Dr Eman Sharobeem from the Immigrant Women's Health Service, ISIS' public appeal for young female jihadis as wives may leave young Australian girls at risk since they may be taken against their will in response to the terrorists' call.
ISIS-linked Abu Bakr Al-Janabi had posted on social media to appeal to women to join the extremist group. He encouraged the girls to find their future husband because at the end, the rest of the women will become slaves.
Morrison said arranged marriages are an "assault on Australian values" and described the involvement of children as an abomination. Michaelia Cash, Assistant Minister for Women, told News Corp that the government has taken a "zero-tolerance" regarding the issue of force marriage and the threat repeatedly posed by ISIS.
Sharobeem said one of the Australian schoolgirls referred to the service revealed that her parents told her she would be sent to Iraq to meet her husband. Sharobeem was also aware of reports of Muslim girls being told by parents to obey or else they will be sent off to Syria.
