Home affairs minister Tony Burke says government continues to refuse to help the group of 13

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Some of the Australian women linked to Islamic State fighters face arrest and criminal charges on their return from Syria this week, with the government and federal police promising a hardline response when the group touches down.

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, confirmed that the government was aware that four Australian women and nine of their children had begun the journey home, after more than a decade of planning by a joint Asio and Australian federal police counter-terrorism taskforce.