Australian teen trapped in Syria says passport cancellation ‘absolutely ridiculous’
An Australian teen trapped in Syria has hit back at claims he might be trying to participate in political violence.
Queenslander Oliver Bridgeman said he had been doing humanitarian work in Syria for about 12 months.
In his first comments made since Australian Federal Police issued a warrant for his arrest, Bridgeman said the AFP was wrong about him.
Police accused Bridgeman of engaging in hostile activities in a foreign country and cancelled his passport.
In an interview with a Sydney-based Muslim community Internet channel, the 19-year-old said the AFP’s reason for cancelling his passport was ‘absolutely ridiculous’.
“Basically they were talking about my aid work here. [The claims] included that they thought I was going to participate in political violence, which is obviously not true,” he said.
Bridgeman's lawyer Alex Jones has filed an appeal against the decision.
Last week Bridgeman shared photos of himself to social media, saying he was stranded at the Turkish border.
In 2015 Ashley Dyball was permitted to return to Australia after he joined the Kurdish military campaign fighting the Islamic State.
Bridgeman accused the Australian Government of double standards.
“I was prepared to negotiate and talk with the Australian Government 100 per cent — I was willing to cooperate fully,” he said.
“One of the biggest problems that I face was my family, especially my parents, they felt pretty betrayed by the Australian Government.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told ABC News that it was standard practice to provide an Australian with temporary travel documents if their passport was cancelled.
"We are aware that an individual who has allegedly been in Syria may be seeking to return to Australia,” the spokesperson said.
“For privacy reasons, we do not comment on the status of a person's passport”.
