A delegation from the Canadian foreign ministry visited the office of Rojava’s Kurdish administration, discussing the latest security developments in the area, as well as the cooperation between both sides in repatriation individuals with links to ISIS.
“Today we are proceeding with the [inaudible] repatriation of 14 Canadians from northeast Syria to Canada: 4 women and 10 children,” said Sebastien Beaulieu, a senior official of the Canadian foreign ministry, following the meeting.
Beaulieu expressed his gratitude for the Kurdish administration’s continued cooperation with Canada, as well the efforts of providing care to the detained individuals.
“Despite all the difficult circumstances that our regions are going through, the autonomous administration of north and east Syria will continue to cooperate with the state of Canada, and with all countries that have citizens and children in the autonomous administration area,” said Rubil Baho, a senior official of the Kurdish administration.
Canada detained two women in October after repatriating them from Rojava.
One of the women, Oumaima Chouay, was arrested upon her arrival at the Montreal-Trudeau airport and handed several terrorism-related charges, with the charges including "participation in activity of terrorist group" and "leaving Canada to participate in activity of terrorist group."
Thousands of children of foreign nationals with suspected links to the Islamic State (ISIS) live in northeast Syria’s al-Hol and Roj camps, with human rights groups calling camp conditions “filthy,” “often inhumane,” and “life-threatening.”
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who control northeast Syria, fought the lion’s share of the battle against ISIS and arrested thousands of the terror group’s fighters along with their wives and children when they crushed ISIS territorially and took the group’s last stronghold in Syria in 2019.
