Fate of Canadians detained in Syrian camps still unclear despite court ruling

The government reached an agreement with one of the lawyers behind the case, to begin the process of repatriating six Canadian women and 13 children from northeastern Syria.

A court action has prompted the federal government to begin repatriating several Canadians detained in Syria, but the fate of many other citizens trapped there remains unclear.

A Federal Court judge declared last week that four Canadian men being held in Syrian camps are entitled to the federal government’s help to return home.

Meantime, the government reached an agreement with Lawrence Greenspon, one of the lawyers behind the case, to begin the process of repatriating six Canadian women and 13 children from northeastern Syria.

Farida Deif, Canada director of the group Human Rights Watch, says that beyond these men, women and children, about 27 other Canadian detainees are thought to be in Syria.

The Canadians are among the many foreign nationals in Syrian camps and jails run by Kurdish forces that took back the battle-scarred region from the extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Deif said in an interview that the federal government should bring home all of the Canadians, noting that none of them have been charged with a crime and they have not appeared before a judge to challenge their detention.

“They are unlawfully and indefinitely detained in abysmal and life-threatening conditions in northeast Syria,” she said. “So these individuals, all of them, should be repatriated to Canada, rehabilitated, reintegrated — and anyone who may have committed crimes can be prosecuted here at home.”

The government had argued in court that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not obligate Ottawa to repatriate the Canadians held in Syria.