(Ottawa) The federal government has declined an offer by a civil society delegation to travel to northeast Syria on behalf of Ottawa to repatriate detained Canadians.
Instead, a small group, including Senator Kim Pate, intends to travel to the region in late August to gather information on Canadians held in squalid camps and prisons.
The delegation will also include Alex Neve, former Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, and Scott Heatherington, retired Canadian diplomat.
Mme Pate told a news conference on Thursday that it was “simply amazing” that Canadians have been arbitrarily detained for years in appalling conditions when their own government “seems to hold the key to their return.”
Late last month, the Federal Court of Appeal overturned a judge’s finding that four Canadian men held in Syrian camps were entitled to Ottawa’s help to return home.
The May ruling overturned a January ruling by Federal Court Judge Henry Brown, who had ordered Ottawa to seek the men’s repatriation as soon as reasonably possible and provide them with passports or emergency travel documents.
The Canadians are among many foreign nationals in Syrian prisons and camps run by Kurdish forces who have taken over the conflict-torn region from the extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
On April 19, Sally Lane, the mother of Jack Letts, one of four Canadians, wrote to Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly asking her to quickly authorize a seven-member delegation to Syria in late May.
“I am convinced that in the current circumstances, allowing this delegation is essential to save Jack’s life and protect the rights of all Canadian detainees,” wrote Ms.me Lane. As such, I will be a member of this delegation. »
Jack Letts became a devout Muslim, vacationed in Jordan at 18, then studied in Kuwait before ending up in Syria. His family claim he was captured by Kurdish forces as he fled the country with a group of refugees in 2017.
In an interview, M.me Lane said the government refused to provide support for the Canadian delegation. “They didn’t really give a reason. All they said was that the repatriation will be carried out only by members of the government,” she said.
Since the revamped mission scheduled for August will be more of a fact-finding trip, Mme Lane has now decided not to go.
Asked why the government would not support the proposed delegation, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, Jean-Pierre Godbout, said Ottawa advises against all travel to Syria.
“For confidentiality and operational security reasons, we cannot comment on specific cases or potential future actions,” he added.
The identity and whereabouts of the other three Canadian men are not publicly known.