Irish ISIS supporter fears she will never be able to return home to Ireland

Suspected Isis supporter Lisa Smith says she fears the Government will make an example of her and she will never return to Ireland.

Ms Smith (37) is being held in the Al-Hawl displacement camp in Syria for the wives and children of Islamic State fighters.

She moved to Syria, via Tunisia, in 2015 shortly after leaving the Air Corps where she worked as a flight attendant on the Government jet and as a driver to senior officers.

She had also previously served with the Army as part of the 27th Infantry Battalion.

In an interview with RTÉ News, Ms Smith reiterated that she wants to return to Ireland with her two-year-old daughter who is an Irish citizen.

However, she added: “To be honest I don’t think I will be going back, ever.That’s what I feel. That’s what I think. They could be trying to make an example of me because I’m Irish and I’m military and I’m a woman.

“To be honest I don’t know what’s going on. If it’s just the Irish Government or its Europe as a whole because there’s a big delay on all the countries at the moment.”

The Government rejected a plan from the Defence Forces to bring her home from Syria two months ago through co-operation with foreign intelligence agencies.

The plan, which was drawn up by the Directorate of Military Intelligence, also known as J2, was presented to Minister of State for Defence Paul Kehoe in late April.

It would have involved her being removed from the camp and sent south to the Jordanian border and to safety. However, the Department of Foreign Affairs wants the gardaí instead to bring her home.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said: “What we are doing at the moment is assessing a request that has been made. It is an enormously demanding objective to look at how somebody can be brought safely back from that part of the world and how they can be looked after here in Ireland.

“The Taoiseach said when we first became aware of this issue, two points, number one it is the compassionate thing to do, to look at how the commitments that we have to our citizens, particularly in this case, can be met, secondly, we also have commitments and duties to citizens in our own country and that is why there is a security dimension to all of this that has to be seriously considered.”

Ms Smith said she is frustrated by the delay in leaving the camp, a frustration she shares with many there.

“Everyone is getting stressed and frustrated because they don’t know what’s happening to them. One minute they are saying deportation and you are going back to your country and people are coming to talk to you, but nothing is happening,” she told reporter Norma Costello.

She again denied being involved in or having any knowledge of atrocities carried out by ISIS and claimed her Tunisian-born husband kept her indoors all the time.

She said: “You can’t blame me for what the Islamic State done. I don’t hold the same beliefs as them. I came to a caliphate where Islam was supposed to be implemented. I have different beliefs than the majority of people.

“People in the Islamic State come from all over the world. They have different beliefs and different understandings of Islam. Since I came here I have seen that no-one has any real understanding of Islam.

“What did I do? I just joined the Islamic State and now I just become a monster. How? The British and the Irish fought for many years. If someone moved from England then what would they say about them? How am I monster? I came here to Islamic State and I didn’t do anything.”

Ms Smith also said that she does not want to be separated from her daughter and therefore she will not send her daughter back to Ireland now. “I love my daughter. What mother is going to give up her daughter like that,” she said.

Source: Irish Times