International aid organisation Save the Children is acting as a litigation guardian for Australians detained in Syria, describing the camps as the "worst place in the world to be a child".
Legal action has been launched against the federal government in a "last resort" effort to repatriate Australian women and children trapped in Syrian detention camps.
Mat Tinkler, CEO of international aid organisation Save the Children, said the legal proceedings would seek to repatriate around 40 children and their mothers from Syrian camps to Australia.