A group of women and children linked to Islamic State and stranded in displaced person camps in northeastern Syria have arrived in Australia.

The four Australian women, who had been in the al-Roj camp since the fall of the militant terrorist group,  and 13 children landed in Sydney on Saturday after being taken to Erbil in Iraq to begin their journey.

Earlier this month, the Albanese government confirmed a rescue plan to bring home 16 women and 42 children who are families of IS members.

The first people removed were assessed as the most vulnerable of those being held.

The federal government worked with Kurdish authorities on the extraction, which reportedly included DNA testing the individuals to prove they were Australian citizens.

Most of the children were born in Syria, meaning they’ll be seeing Australia for the first time.

Germany, France and Denmark have also brought their citizens home from Syria.

But Opposition Leader Peter Dutton again argued the extractions were not in the national interest, saying their arrival could raise the risk of future terrorism in Australia.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil confirmed the arrival of the women and children, saying the government had “carefully” considered the security implications of the repatriation.

“The decision to repatriate these women and their children was informed by individual assessments following detailed work by national security agencies,” she said on Saturday.

The group was taken to an unnamed hotel in Sydney and the NSW government is providing them with support services to help with their integration into the community.

Save the Children CEO Mat Tinkler said the children now had hope.

“We highly commend the Australian government for following through on its promise to repatriate these innocent children and their mothers,” he said.

“They have given these children hope for their futures and rightly backed the robustness of Australia’s national security, judicial and resettlement systems to support their safe integration into Australian society.”

There are believed to be more than 30 Australian children still stranded in camps in northeast Syria and Mr Tinkler urged the federal government to repatriate them as quickly as possible.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the safety of Australians was always paramount and the government would continue to act on national security advice.

“We will always act in a way that keeps Australians safe.”

A Senate estimates committee was told on Friday that the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet was looking at whether earlier media reports of the rescue had breached national security laws.

“Given the seriousness of the potential harm to national security … we were involved in discussions about the referral,” Mr Pezzullo said.

“Operational secrecy is to be preserved at all times.”

Mr Pezzullo confirmed there were still Australian women and children in Syrian camps and that ASIO and other agencies kept the ability to physically access the camps “constantly under review”.

– AAP