Another group of women and children linked to Islamic State group return to Australia

Two flights carrying nineteen women and children linked to the Islamic State group have landed in Australia.

A large group left al-Roj camp in northern Syria last week, with most making it back to their home country on flights from Qatar.

The cohort that arrived at Melbourne Airport just after 4:30pm on Tuesday included so-called ISIS brides Kirsty Rosse-Emile and Kawsar Kanj, and seven children, including an individual who recently turned 18.

Four women, including Aminah Zahab, her daughter Sumaya Zahab, her niece Nesrine Zahab, and Hyam Raad, along with six children, landed aboard flight QR908 in Sydney about an hour later.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said their belongings were searched and their devices downloaded as part of "operational responses".

No-one was arrested or charged, but the AFP said investigations into the activities of Australians who had travelled to Syria and returned were ongoing.

Women, children shuffled off plane in discreet arrival

Armed police officers patrolled the arrivals area at Sydney International Airport, although security presence appeared consistent with normal airport operations.

One passenger, who asked not to be identified, said they were on board the flight incoming from Doha.

They told the ABC they saw around three women with a number of children, and some men, escorted off the plane before other passengers were allowed to disembark.

NSW Police said some family members were expected to meet those returning at the terminal.

The women were escorted by officials and police as they left through a side exit. 

The ABC understands the group left from an area separate from the main exit.

The sister of Kirsty Rosse-Emile, one of the so-called ISIS brides who landed in Melbourne, told 7News she required "a lot of support — like just to talk to someone, someone to talk to about what's happened".

Krystle Rosse-Emile said her sister was groomed before leaving Australia to get married at 14 to a man who later became an ISIS fighter.

"I'll be happy to see her and say g'day."

Some of the women and children are expected to be offered government health assistance.

Government says no help given for women to return

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier declared he had "nothing but contempt for anyone who has any sympathy with ISIS".

He reiterated the government had offered no financial support for ISIS-linked women returning from Syria and warned they would "face the full force of the law" on the advice of "security agencies".

Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke reaffirmed in a statement that the current cohort made plans to travel from Syria to Australia without government assistance.

"These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation," he said.

"As we have said many times, any members of this cohort who have committed crimes can expect to face the full force of the law."

'The majority are children, they are innocent' 

Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi, who campaigned for Australians in the camps to return home, said it had taken lobbying the Syrian government to secure the release of the latest group.

"We were able to convince the Syrian government about the plight of those children and the fact that the political rhetoric in Australia does not reflect the legal reality — that those are Australian citizens, they should be back, and the majority are children, they are innocent," he told the ABC's 7.30 in the hours after the group landed.

"We convinced them that if any of these women … have anything that broke the Australian law, that we have the court system, and they will go through that," he said.

"They needed that convincing and they were true to their word."

Earlier this month, four women and a group of children returned from Syria's al-Roj camp.

Three of the women were arrested and charged by the AFP on arrival in Melbourne and Sydney. They remain in custody.

Two have been charged with slavery offences, and the other with travelling to a declared terrorist area and being a member of a terrorist organisation.

One woman from Sydney's west was barred from returning under a temporary exclusion order (TEO).

The ABC understands Hodan Abby's child, who is not covered by the TEO, has elected to stay with her.

The Syrian government was asked for comment about those left behind, but did not receive an immediate response.