A human rights lawyer has been identified as a key figure behind the operation to bring a group of ISIS brides and their children back to Australia within days.

While Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi has attracted much of the public attention and helped secure passports for the women, retired lawyer Robert Van Aalst is understood to have played a central role in the final stages of the process.

Van Aalst is said to have spent recent months orchestrating confidential meetings with family members and overseas contacts, managing travel logistics and liaising with Syrian-linked contacts, sources directly involved in the latest negotiations told The Australian.

The publication also reports he has spoken with up to four Australians who are being lined up to travel to the Middle East to help escort the group from Damascus and Qatar through to Australia.

‘He’s controlling everything,’ one source said. ‘He wants everything under his control.’

He has also been accused of operating with extreme secrecy during negotiations, including organising face-to-face meetings where people were asked to leave phones and smartwatches outside rooms.

It comes as the remaining group of women and children were spotted on board a bus leaving Syria’s Al Roj internment camp on Thursday afternoon local time, heading towards Damascus.

The latest group includes six women and 14 children, with the majority expected to fly into Sydney, while the rest will return to Melbourne.

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Retired Jewish lawyer Robert Van Aalst is helping the remaining group of ‘ISIS brides’ and their children return to Australia

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Six women and 14 children were spotted leaving Syria’s Al Roj camp on Thursday afternoon local time

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Van Aalst (pictured in red circle) was spotted leaving Melbourne Magistrates Court on May 11 alongside Abraham Abbas (centre) – a relative of ISIS bride Kawsar Abbas who is in custody

Some of the children are reportedly dealing with medical complications, including one child previously reported to have suffered shrapnel injuries.

One of the women is expected to remain in Syria after being subjected to an exclusion order imposed by the Albanese government.

While he has been busy helping coordinate travel arrangements for the group, Van Aalst has also been seen supporting some of the returned brides who were charged with crimes against humanity-related offences earlier this month.

Van Aalst was seen leaving Melbourne Magistrates Court on May 11 alongside Abraham Abbas, a relative of mother-daughter duo Kawsar Abbas, 53, and Zeinab Ahmad, 31, who are facing multiple slavery charges.

Abbas’ niece, Janai Safar, who arrived in Sydney with her nine-year-old son, was charged with joining a terrorist organisation and travelling to a declared conflict zone.

Abbas’ eldest daughter, Zahra Ahmad, 33, was the only woman not to be arrested.

The Australian reports Van Aalst has also used his status as a lawyer to visit some of the women while they are in custody, giving him access even some relatives do not have.

‘Everyone thinks Jamal Rifi was running this,’ one source told the Australian. ‘He wasn’t. It was Robert. He was the one pulling all of the strings.’

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The majority of the latest group are expected to fly into Sydney (pictured chaos erupted at Melbourne Airport on May 7 when three ISIS brides and their children landed)

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Dr Jamal Rifi was leading the repatriation efforts from the ground in Syria back in February

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When Zeinab Ahmed landed in Melbourne earlier this month, she was arrested and charged with enslavement, and using a slave and denied bail

The Albanese Government has repeatedly insisted it has not provided the Islamic State-linked women and children with any assistance.

The Daily Mail has contacted Van Aalst for comment.