The father of an Australian woman who claims she accidentally crossed into a warzone and then married an ISIS fighter for her security has pleaded for the government to bring her home.
Zakaria Zahab on Monday called for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to expedite the safe return of his daughter, Nesrine Zahab, who has been in Syria for more than a decade.
Nesrine previously told the ABC’s Four Corners she had been in the Middle East on a holiday with her relatives when she became stranded.
Nesrine, now in her early 30s, was aged in her 20s when she travelled from Sydney to Lebanon in 2014. Among the group was her male cousin, former Sydney maths teacher Muhammad Zahab, who later became a crucial recruiter for ISIS.
While in Lebanon, she and a female cousin snuck away from their family to deliver aid to refugees on the Turkish side of the Syrian border.
However, Nesrine said she unknowingly crossed the border and ‘freaked out’ when someone asked for her passport and she saw an Islamic State flag.
She was not allowed to leave and later married Ahmed Merhi, a Sydney-born Islamic State terrorist, as she believed it was her best chance for survival. She escaped while pregnant in 2017 and made it to Kurdish-controlled northern Syria where her son was born in al-Roj refugee camp.
They both were sent back in a prisoner swap, but later returned to al-Roj after the fall of the barbaric regime. Her father, Mr Zahab, reiterated her claims in an interview with the Daily Telegraph on Monday.
‘She’s Australian, she didn’t do anything wrong. She has no involvement with ISIS,’ Mr Zahab said.
He added his daughter was ‘young’ when she made the ‘mistake’ that ruined her life.
‘How can a government live with itself leaving people in a camp to die? Please, please Mr Albanese, bring her home. Australia needs to bring her back.’
Mr Zahab said Nesrine was part of a group of 23 women and 11 children who attempted to flee the Kurdish-run al-Roj camp in February.
It’s understood the group were issued Australian passports and given the all-clear to return home but only made it 50km from the camp before being turned back by Syrian authorities.
The repatriation effort had been overseen by prominent Western Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi. It’s believed another attempt is in the works – pending ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Mr Zahab said he has only been able to speak with his daughter once every three months for the last 10 years.
‘She was young, I haven’t seen my daughter or ever met my grandson who was born over there, he is now eight years old,’ he said.
‘I’ve never met my grandson. Nesrine is a good girl, she was naive, she didn’t know what she was doing, she was caught on the border.’
Mr Zahab added it is ‘Australia’s responsibility’ to bring her home.
Daily Mail has contacted the Department of Home Affairs for comment.