Right now, dozens of Australian women and children are trapped in detention camps in northeast Syria. 

They are the widows, sons and daughters of jailed and slain ISIS fighters, and in the camps they live in malnutrition, illness and violence are common.

While other nations have repatriated many of their own citizens in the same position, Australia has so far refused to do the same. But now - that could change. 

Today, foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Matthew Knott on the story of these women and children, and what the mission to bring them home could mean for the Albanese government.

Additional audio from: CNN, ABC Action News, Four Corners, Sky News Australia, Sunrise.

Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.