Six Canadian children repatriated from Syria

OTTAWA — Six Canadian children have been repatriated from detention in northeastern Syria, but the whereabouts of their mother remained unclear on Tuesday.

Global Affairs Canada said the focus is now on protecting the children’s privacy and ensuring they receive the support and care needed to begin a new life.

Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, who has been assisting the family, received a message from Global Affairs saying the children had arrived safely in Montreal, where a specialized clinic was helping to settle them.

He recently said the children’s mother, who is from Quebec, had been denied help by Ottawa to return to Canada on security grounds.

Greenspon said while the woman left al-Roj detention camp, there was no indication of where she went.

The Canadians were among the many foreign nationals being held in centres set up after the strife-torn region was reclaimed from the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Global Affairs thanked the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria for its co-operation “under extremely challenging security conditions.”

“We also extend our gratitude to the United States for its assistance in the repatriation of Canadians and for its valuable support throughout this process.”

Ottawa has previously arranged for the repatriation of other Canadian women and children from detention in Syria.

However, several Canadian children and their non-Canadian mothers continue to live in desperate conditions. A number of Canadian men are also detained.

A civil society delegation that visited Syrian prison camps last August called on Ottawa to provide immediate consular assistance to Canadian detainees and to swiftly repatriate all citizens wishing to return to Canada.

Delegation members, including Senator Kim Pate and former Amnesty International Canada head Alex Neve, urged the government to issue temporary permits to ensure that nonCanadian mothers and siblings of Canadian children can travel to Canada.

Neve said Tuesday while the six latest arrivals are now safe in Canada, it is disgraceful that the children have “effectively been forced apart from their mother.”