Canadians stuck in Syria | Ottawa ordered by the Court to study their repatriation

(Ottawa) The reign of the armed group Islamic State may be over, but its fall continues to occupy Canada. The government must wrestle with a Federal Court decision to repatriate women and children stuck in camps in Syria – or in prison, like “Jihadi Jack”.

It is not for lack of having put up a strong resistance in court. Being the subject of a lawsuit on behalf of 26 Canadians stranded in Syria, the federal government had pleaded in particular that the security situation in the country prevented it from offering consular services. Judge Henry Brown does not believe this, in light of the evidence presented.

He ordered Canada to repatriate “as soon as reasonably possible” 6 women and 13 children, the majority of whom languish in camps in the northeast of the country, in an autonomous region controlled by Kurdish forces. In their case, Global Affairs reached a “mutually acceptable resolution” in exchange for the prosecution being dropped.

But Judge Brown also ordered Ottawa to bring back to Canada four men who are being held in the same area. Among them, Jack Letts, nicknamed “Jihadi Jack”. The man, who would have left to swell the ranks of the Islamic State group in 2014, also had British citizenship, but he was stripped of it in 2019, to the chagrin of Ottawa.

“The judgment is clear: Canada is in violation of international humanitarian law,” summarizes Frédéric Mégret, professor of law at McGill University and co-director of the Center for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism.

“As soon as the Kurdish forces are ready to send these Westerners home […] and let them languish in these prisons where they are malnourished, that there are risks to their health, violence, Canada does not honor the right of Canadians to return to the country, ”adds- he.

We do not know if Quebecers are among people who must be repatriated.

Ottawa is considering its options

If the judgment is clear, the sequence of events is less so.

Because the Trudeau government has not yet determined whether it will appeal.

“We are reviewing the decision, and will comment in due course. The safety and security of Canadians is our government’s top priority. We remain committed to taking a strong approach in this area,” said Grantly Franklin, spokesperson at Global Affairs.

In the Bloc and New Democrat camps, the case is heard: Ottawa should not appeal the decision of the Federal Court.

“We must respect the decision of the Federal Court. It is clear that it is something that we must do, the repatriation of Canadians, ”believes the leader of the New Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh.

“For several months now, we have been urging the Canadian government to repatriate its nationals, as requested by the United Nations and as requested by some allies, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken,” he said. MP Stéphane Bergeron, from the Bloc Québécois.

The government is unlikely to smash popularity records by opting to repatriate suspected former Islamic State fighters.

This is precisely what happened in October 2022 to Montrealer Oumaima Chouay, who was formally charged with terrorism upon her return to Canadian soil. Arrested by RCMP officers as soon as she arrived at Montréal-Trudeau airport, she was released on bail on January 6.^⁠1.

“We don’t want to see him on our streets”

In the event that Canada appeals to abandon “Jihadi Jack”, whom parents have been urging Ottawa to repatriate for a long time^⁠2 so that he can be judged here, the Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus admits that he would not see any inconvenience.

“If the government appeals, things don’t move and they [Jack Letts] stay there, we don’t mind at all. If he comes back to Canada, it’s sure and certain that we don’t want to have him on the streets, this guy, ”he says.

But if the government appeals and the Syrian ordeal of the alleged fighter continues, it is not impossible that he will be exposed to prosecution.

We need only think of the Khadr case, which is cited in the Federal Court judgment.

“It’s hard to make a comparison, because the facts are different. But in the decision, we can clearly see the precedent of the Supreme Court in the Khadr case which was raised by the judge,” mentioned Miriam Cohen, associate professor at the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal.

“But if we find ourselves in a situation where we could find violations on the part of Canada because it took a long time [le rapatriement]it could be a scenario, ”adds the one who also holds the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and International Restorative Justice.

Tens of thousands of strangers stuck

The delicate issue of repatriations is not unique to Canada.

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 42,400 foreigners suspected of links to the Islamic State group remain abandoned by their respective countries in camps and prisons in northeast Syria.

The deputy director of the humanitarian organization’s Crisis and Conflict division, Letta Tayler, recently expressed concern on Twitter about Canadian intentions: she fears that Ottawa is trying to separate mothers from their children.