Achi news desk-
Ottawa –
Six Canadian children have been returned from detention in northeastern Syria, but the whereabouts of their mother remained unclear Tuesday.
Global Affairs Canada said in a statement that the focus now is on protecting the children’s privacy and ensuring they receive the support and care they need to start a new life.
Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, who has been assisting the family, received word from Global Affairs early Tuesday that the children had arrived safely in Montreal, where a specialized clinic is helping to settle them.
He recently said the children’s mother, who is from Quebec, refused Ottawa’s help to return to Canada for security reasons.
Greensphon said that while the woman was able to leave the al-Roj detention camp, there is no indication of where she went.
The Canadians were among the many foreign nationals held in centers set up after the conflict-torn region was retaken from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militant group.
In the global affairs statement, gratitude was expressed to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria for its cooperation “under extremely challenging security conditions.”
Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon assisted a family with six Canadian children who were returned from detention in northeastern Syria. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)
“We also express our gratitude to the United States for its assistance in returning Canadians to Israel and for its valuable support throughout this process.”
Ottawa has previously organized the return of other Canadian women and children from detention in Syria.
However, a number of Canadian children and their non-Canadian mothers continue to live in desperate conditions. A number of Canadian men are also arrested.
A civil society delegation that visited Syrian prison camps last August called on Ottawa to provide immediate consular assistance to Canadian detainees and quickly return all citizens wishing to return to Canada.
Members of the delegation, including Senator Kim Fata and former Amnesty International Canada head Alex Neve, also urged the government to issue temporary permits to ensure non-Canadian mothers and siblings of Canadian children can travel to Canada.
The delegation said Canada is complicit in an international human rights failure through a policy of harboring thousands of foreign nationals, more than half of them children.
Neve said Tuesday that while the six latest arrivals are now safe in Canada, it’s shameful that the children “actually had to be separated from their mother.”
“The government’s determination that her views are too undefined extreme to allow her to return home is deeply troubling and not at all anchored in law or in accordance with human rights standards,” said Neve, now a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa’s School of Public and International Studies.
According to him, the humanitarian delegation met with this family in Syria “and it was absolutely clear that everyone is very close – the children with their mother and with each other – and rely significantly on each other for support.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 7, 2024
