Conditions in the north-eastern Syrian camp to where 34 Australians have been forcibly returned are deteriorating dramatically, with reports of near-nightly raids, and increasingly violent beatings, amid worsening uncertainty over their futures.
The 11 women and 23 Australian children forced back to Roj camp on Monday returned to find their tents – formerly huddled collectively in a row known as Australia Street – demolished and their possessions seized.
Kurdish officials have reportedly refused to return their tents, so the group has been scattered across the shrinking, unstable camp, billetted with other families.
There are no established lines of communications with the group, and their immediate future – whether another attempt will be made to reach Australia – is increasingly unclear.
The group – the last Australians left in the camp after previous government-run repatriations – are the wives, widows and children of slain or jailed Islamic State fighters.
They have been given Australians passports and permission to leave Roj camp.
But their efforts to reach Damascus, and from there, fli
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