At least 2 Canadian women and their children repatriated from ISIS detention camp

At least two Canadian women have left a detention camp in Syria holding ISIS fighters and their family members, CBC News has learned.

The women left the al-Roj camp in northeastern Syria headed for northern Iraq on Tuesday morning with an unknown number of children, according to multiple sources.

The expectation is that the women and children will be repatriated to Canada, the sources said. 

A source with direct knowledge of the file said they've learned that Canadian Kimberly Polman is out of the camp and her tent has been taken down. A second source said they also received information that Polman has left the camp.

Polman, who was featured in the documentary "The Return: Life after ISIS," said she was in a "terrible place" when she was found online by the ISIS member who later became her husband. WATCH / Canadian Kimberly Polman explains why she joined ISIS

Canada's position has been that, for security reasons, it will not send consular assistance to meet these women, even though a number of other western countries have done so.

The Canadian government's involvement in this ongoing repatriation effort is not clear. CBC News has asked the federal government for confirmation of the repatriation.

CBC News asked Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino about the government's involvement. "We don't talk about any individual case," he replied.

"We're always mindful of making sure that we're protecting the safety and security of Canadians."

U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith helped to free a 4-year-old Canadian girl in March 2021 and called on Canada to repatriate all of the children still stranded there.

Months later, the Canadian government issued an emergency passport to the mother of the 4-year-old so she could return home to Canada and reunite with her daughter.

Global Affairs Canada said at the time that "given the security situation on the ground, the Government of Canada's ability to provide any kind of consular assistance in Syria remains extremely limited."

But the department said consular officials were "actively engaged with Syrian Kurdish authorities to seek information on Canadians in their custody."

WATCH / The Canadian mothers inside an ISIS detention camp