Humanitarian Mission Headed to Syria in August
Group says it hopes government will turn it into a repatriation delegation.
On June 22, 2023 Senator Kim Pate and human rights advocates spoke with reporters about a delegation's plan to travel to northeastern Syria this summer to visit camps and detention centres in the region. The delegation hopes to receive access to Canadians currently detained in the camps and will also meet with local officials. Parliamentarians, former diplomats, human rights experts, and lawyers will be part of the delegation.
Four Canadian women and ten Canadian children were repatriated from northeastern Syria in April 2023. In May 2023, the federal government won its appeal of a federal court justice's ruling that ordered the repatriation of four Canadian men detained in Syrian prisons, and has refused to assist in their repatriation, despite there being no evidence that the men were fighters or that they have committed any crimes.
Senator Pate stated: "To have learned that Canadian citizens – men, women, and children – have been arbitrarily detained for years under the most appalling of conditions when their own government appears to hold the key to their return is simply astounding."
