The Canadian government agreed to bring home six Canadian women and 13 children who are detained in prison camps in Syria. Most of the Canadians have been detained in camps operated by Kurdish authorities since the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria fell in 2019..“This is terrific news for the families and most importantly for the women and children who are detained,” said Lawrence Greenspon, the lawyer representing them in a federal court case. .Greenspon said he received the signed agreement with Global Affairs Canada Thursday morning. It says that the Canadians will be returned home within a “mutually agreed upon time frame.".Back in December, Greenspon and fellow lawyer Barbara Jackman argued in a federal court allowing Canadians to languish in those prisons was a violation of their constitutional right to “life, liberty and security of person” under Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms..But federal lawyers argued Canada did not have a duty to repatriate them, as it does not have a diplomatic presence in Syria. The Canadian Embassy to Syria closed March 5, 2015..Since 2021, three other Canadian women and four children have been repatriated. Since they returned to the country, those women have either been charged with criminal offences or put on a peace bond..The most recent report by Human Rights Watch, published last December, estimated more than 40,000 foreigners remain in the camps..It's estimated there are perhaps two dozen more Canadians languishing in Syrian camps and prisons. The Canadian government suspects the detainees may have ties to ISIS, but has not presented any evidence to prove this..Despite that, Greenspon says they should all be brought back to Canada.."These are Canadian men, women and children … none of them have been charged with any offences. They're being unlawfully detained in detention camps and prisons for years. And our position always was that it's the responsibility of the Canadian government to bring them home," he said..“The prime minister has famously said 'a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.'"
