UN urges Canada not to split up mother and six children in Syrian camp

A top United Nations official has urged the Canadian government not to dismember a Quebec woman and her six children who are being held in appalling conditions in a Syrian prison camp.

A letter from the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights warned the Canadian government of the “irreparable trauma” the children would suffer if they were separated from their mothers.

The woman, a Canadian citizen, has two daughters and two sons who were born in Canada, another son who was born in Raqqa, Syria, and a sixth child who was born in the Kurdish-run al-Roj camp in the northeast from Syria.

“We… insist on the joint repatriation of (the woman) and her six children to Canda and to have all the safeguards and protections so abjectly absent for them at the Roj detention camp,” is in the letter.

The letter, written in May, was only made public after a 60-day period in which Canada was invited, but declined, to reply.

Raqqa was the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State terror group, or ISIS, which waged a campaign of brutal beatings and filmed executions in part of Syria and Iraq. Al-Roj and a second camp, al-Hol, were set up to hold the tens of thousands of people, including women, children and fighters who fled the group’s area following the military defeat of ISIS.

The letter describes “an extremely traumatized family in very poor health”.

The mother has infections from injuries to her thighs and buttocks that required surgery. She has been “mentally traumatized” by an attack in December 2021 at the hands of camp guards and “several prison sentences and torture that resulted in broken bones”. More recently, the woman suffered burns in a tent fire, her Canadian attorney, Lawrence Greenspon, said.

The children have a range of mental and physical health problems, including repeated cases of hepatitis, parasites, hair loss, calcium deficiencies, anxiety, depression and stress, the letter said.

The children, now aged 13, 12, 11, nine, six and three, have been offered repatriation to Canada, but the mother’s request to leave the camp and return home has been denied.

The Special Rapporteur’s letter states that the Canadian authorities have suggested that the mother willingly send her children to Canada without her. The children, it says, would be “placed through social services as three pairs of two children”.

“While we are clear that the repatriation of the children can only be considered in their best interests, we emphasize that preventing family separation and preserving family unity are essential parts of the child protection system,” the letter said.

“Divorce of parents shall not take place unless such separation is deemed to be in the best interests of the child, subject to judicial review and in accordance with applicable law and procedures.”

The UN Special Rapporteur has appealed to Canada on behalf of other detainees.

In May 2020, it took up the case of a five year old orphan whose parents – suspected terrorists – had been killed in an airstrike. A few months later, the girl, Amira, became the first Canadian citizen to be repatriated from the detention camps.

A year later, in November 2021, it appealed on behalf of the detainee Kimberly Polman, who was reportedly denied treatment for life-threatening health problems. Canadian officials responded in January 2022 that the government had no legal obligation to assist citizens held abroad and had limited resources to do so as Canada did not maintain a diplomatic presence in Syria. Nevertheless, Polman, along with Oumaima Chouay from Montreal and Chouay’s two children, were sent back to Canada in October 2022.

A Federal Court case to force Ottawa to bring home most of the Canadian male, female and minor detainees in Syria resulted earlier this year in a negotiated agreement to bring home countless women and children. The Quebec woman and her children were not part of that deal, and Greenspon said he is considering asking a judge to intervene on their behalf.

Neither the federal court judge nor the UN Special Rapporteur has persuaded Canada to bring home the male citizens being held — so far without charge.

A judge ruled earlier this year that Canada was required to help its detained citizens return home under part of the Charter that gives Canadians the right to enter, stay and leave the country, but that decision was made overturned on appeal. Greenspon said he plans to take the case to Canada’s Supreme Court.

Greenspon admitted that the UN appeal has no legal weight and does not impose binding obligations on the Canadian government, but argued that “it should have compelling humanitarian weight”.

The letter appeals to Canada’s nobler instincts and warns that the country risks violating international laws and conventions. For example, it notes that the Quebec mother cannot give “meaningful” consent to divorce her children in her current circumstances.

“Should (her) consent be considered the basis for the repatriation of the children without her, this could amount to forced and arbitrary separation, in clear violation of international law,” the letter states. “We emphasize that the harm of separating children from their parents is the subject of increasing consideration by international criminal law.”

Allan Woods is a Montreal-based staff reporter for the Star. He deals with global and national affairs. Follow him on Twitter: @WoodsAllan

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