(Ottawa) The lawyer of a Quebec woman who is detained in a camp in Syria with her six children is turning to the courts to force the federal government to repatriate her to the country.
In a motion recently filed before the Federal Court, Mr.e Lawrence Greenspon argues that Ottawa’s decision to refuse to help this woman return to Canada condemns her to indefinite detention abroad, which amounts to forcing her to live in exile.
The woman and her six children are among several foreign nationals who are being held in camps run by Kurdish forces, who have retaken the war-torn region from extremists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant armed group.
On June 21, Global Affairs Canada notified Me Greenspon said the woman still held “extremist ideological beliefs” that could push her to act violently, and had argued the government could not guarantee she would not engage in such behavior.
Me Greenspon does not accept this argument. According to him, the government could very well put the woman before the Canadian judicial system if necessary.
The lawyer recalls that the government repatriated eight Canadian women who were detained in camps in Syria, and that seven of them were subject to strict bail conditions pending federal requests for recognizance not to disturb public order in matters of terrorism.