Canada Repatriates Two Citizens Previously Suspected of Being ISIS Members

Two Edmonton women previously held in a Syrian prison camp for ISIS suspects returned to Canada this week after Ottawa announced it would repatriate them following “extraordinary steps” taken with help from the U.S. government.

“Canada remains steadfast in prioritizing the safety and security of its citizens, both at home and abroad, and has been particularly concerned about the health and well-being of Canadian children in northeastern Syria,” Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and Public Safety Canada (PSC) said in a joint press release on July 6.

Returning to Canada with the two women are their three children who were also detained for several years at displaced-persons camps in a region now controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

The women and children were originally part of a group of nearly 20 people Canada agreed to bring home from Kurdish-operated prison camps in Syria in January, but they failed to show up when it was time to board the repatriation flight.

The detainees in the prison camps are mostly women and children whom the Kurdish forces detained after the fall of the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2019.

The government said it would not disclose their identities “due to privacy considerations” and for “operational security reasons.”

The combined federal departments wrote that “Canada extends its gratitude to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria for its cooperation in conducting another operation under difficult security circumstances,” and also thanked the United States for “its assistance in the repatriation of Canadians and for continuing to play a key role in resolving the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the region.”

Several of the other repatriated Canadians who returned in April were arrested by the federal government upon their arrival, and Ottawa also sought peace bonds against them.

A terrorism peace bond allows a judge to order the accused to enter into an arrangement to be of good behaviour, which can carry conditions such as a curfew under threat of facing a prison sentence.

In reference to the two Edmonton women being repatriated this week, GAC and PSC reiterated on July 6 that “it is a serious criminal offence for anyone to leave Canada to knowingly support a terrorist group and those who engage in these activities will face the full force of Canadian law.”

“We remain committed to taking every possible step to ensure the safety and security of Canadians,” the departments said.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.