(OTTAWA) The lawyer for two Canadian women who have just been repatriated from Syria said Thursday that they were immediately arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and that they will face a bail hearing in Brampton, Ont.
Me Lawrence Greenspon says the two women have not been criminally charged, but the Crown is seeking peace bonds, which would impose strict conditions on them.
They are among four Canadian women and 10 children who arrived in Canada on Thursday after being released from prison camps in northeast Syria.
All of these Canadians are among the many foreign nationals in Syrian camps run by Kurdish forces, who have retaken the area from the Islamic State armed group.
RCMP had no immediate comment Thursday. As part of a terrorism peace bond, a judge can order the person to enter into a peace bond or possibly face a prison sentence. We could also impose conditions such as a curfew or a ban on having weapons.
Kimberly Polman, a British Columbia woman repatriated to Canada from Syria last year, was released on bail pending a peace bond hearing.
But the long-awaited flight to Canada was expected to bring even more people home on Thursday.
Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon had in fact reached an agreement last January with Ottawa to repatriate six Canadian women and 13 children who had been the subject of a legal challenge.
Me Greenspon said on Thursday that two mothers and three children were not at the agreed meeting point and missed the repatriation flight. “They couldn’t find them,” he said Thursday.
The lawyer expects Global Affairs Canada to try to locate these five people in order to bring them back to Canada as well.
A restrained Quebec mother
A Quebec mother and her six children, who also wanted to come to Canada, are also not among the returnees, said Ms.e Greenspon. While the six children were deemed eligible for repatriation from Syria, their mother was told she could not join because her security assessment had not been completed.
This is “inexcusable,” given that Global Affairs Canada wrote in late November that the woman and her children had met the criteria for federal government review of assistance to Canadians detained in the region, said M.e Greenspon Thursday. “It’s just ridiculous to give that as an excuse. »
Asked about the family on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will always protect Canadians in difficult situations abroad, but will also ensure that “we do everything necessary to keep Canadians safe here at home. We “.
For operational reasons, I will not comment further.
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
A federal judge recently ordered Ottawa to also secure the release of four Canadians detained in northeast Syria. The federal government appealed this decision.
In a statement, Global Affairs Canada and Public Safety Canada said that “given reports of deteriorating conditions in the camps in northeast Syria, we are particularly concerned about the health and well-being of Canadian children.
“As long as the conditions allow it, we will continue this work”, we are assured.
The Canadian ministries thank the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria “for its participation in this operation under difficult security conditions”. They also thank the United States “for the help they have given in the repatriation”.
Unknown circumstances
“For reasons of confidentiality, we cannot disclose any information on the persons concerned and we cannot give any details of the repatriation for operational reasons,” the statement concludes.
Indeed, little is known about the 14 returnees or how they ended up in detention in camps in Syria. Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers recently traveled to Syria to conduct interviews in the camps.
“Where there is sufficient evidence, law enforcement and public safety agencies will independently take the necessary steps to keep our communities safe,” the two federal departments said Thursday.
“We reiterate that it is a serious criminal offense for anyone to leave Canada to knowingly support a terrorist organization and that those who engage in these activities will be subject to Canadian law to the fullest extent. »
About 10,000 people from more than 60 countries other than Syria and Iraq remain in two internally displaced persons camps in northeastern Syria, Vedant Patel, senior deputy State Department spokesman, said Thursday. American.
“Repatriation is the only durable solution for this population, most of whom are vulnerable children under the age of 12. »
Separately, thousands of Islamic State fighters are being held in detention centers across the region, Patel said. “This constitutes the largest concentration of detained terrorist fighters in the world and remains a threat to regional and international security. »