ASIO drops terrorism threat level to possible for first time since 2014
Published: 2022-11-30 10:17:48 | Written : Boualao Sophavady | Hits: 3311 | Rating: 
Australian Press--The country’s top spy agency has lowered the national terrorism threat level below “probable” for the first time in eight years, reflecting a reduced risk of violence by radical Islamists.
The director-general of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation, Mike Burgess, said he had taken the repatriation of Australian relatives of Islamic State fighters from Syria into account when deciding to reduce the terrorism threat level from probable to possible.
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess has lowered the national terrorism threat level below “probable” for the first time in eight years.Credit:Rhett Wyman
ASIO elevated the national terrorism threat level to probable in 2014, a time when significant numbers of radicalised foreign fighters, including Australians, were travelling to Syria and Iraq to join Islamic terrorist groups.
“A decision of this nature is not taken lightly or made casually,” Burgess told reporters in a press briefing at ASIO’s Canberra headquarters on Monday.
“The process involves a large number of people and a significant amount of time.”
Burgess said it was important to note the assessment assumes there are no “radical shifts to Australia’s policies, processes, laws or investments”.
But he said this was not a reference to the government’s repatriation of Australian women and children from camps in Syria, which began last month with a group of four women and 13 children.
The government is expected to conduct further repatriation missions to bring back some of the remaining 43 people to Australia but has not confirmed details.
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