SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A group of women linked to Islamic State (IS) jihadists arrived in Australia on Thursday, returning home years after allegedly sneaking into Syria to join the group’s self-declared caliphate.

The women and their children — all Australian citizens — landed on Thursday evening after securing passage from Syrian refugee camps where they have languished since the IS group’s demise.

Three women and eight children were reportedly aboard a Qatar Airways flight that arrived at Melbourne Airport from Doha.

Another plane landed in Sydney. Australian media said a woman and her son from the Syrian camp were aboard.

Police said the women, aged 31, 32 and 53, had been taken into custody after arriving at Sydney and Melbourne airports. 

A fourth woman travelling with the group had not been arrested. 

Police said earlier the women could be charged with “terrorism offenses” such as traveling to a banned area and even “engaging in slave trading.”

There was a noticeable police presence at both airports ahead of the arrivals, according to Agence France-Presse journalists in Melbourne and Sydney.

Hundreds of women from Western nations were lured to the Middle East as the IS group gained prominence in the early 2010s, in many cases following husbands who had signed up as jihadist fighters.

Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and others are still grappling with how to treat citizens stranded after the group collapsed.

Widely known as the “ISIS brides,” the case has stirred strong feelings in Australia.

Australia’s Human Rights Commission urged the government in March to help repatriate 34 women and children stuck in Syria’s notorious Roj refugee camp.

But others have accused the women of turning their back on Australia and believe they should be left to face the consequences.