Turkey's ambassador to Australia insists his country does not pose a threat to Islamic State prisoners and their families in northern Syria.

But Korhan Karakoc has warned they might be left exposed if Kurdish guards abandon their posts.

There are growing fears 66 Australian women and children in the al-Hawl refugee camp could be in danger from Syrian troops - who execute ISIS prisoners - if the guards flee to fight Turkish forces.

Turkey intends taking custody of ISIS members and their families in Syrian detention centres and camps.

Asked about the welfare of the 46 Australian children at al-Hawl, Mr Dutton acknowledged he did not have a clear line of sight over the camp.

"We don't have the same ability to know what is going on hour by hour in a war zone as we would somewhere in our own country," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

But Mr Dutton again insisted he would not put soldiers or diplomats at risk to save the Australians.

He refused to say how many of the 20 women posed a national security risk if they were to return to Australia.

"You can't definitively say that five or 10 or 20 pose a threat to us or not," Mr Dutton said.

"Do I have security holdings on every individual that wants to come back here saying they would commit a terrorist act when they return? No."

But Mr Dutton suggested it was a reasonable assumption, given the women had been in a war zone with ISIS militants.

"Do I think that they pose a threat or do I want them to come back here? In most of the cases, no I don't," he said.

"We will look at individual cases, as we've said before, but we are not going to put Australians in harm's way."

Australian Associated Press