Garneau says Canada not involved in release of Canadian woman detained in northeastern Syria

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Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau says the release of a woman detained in northeastern Syria was not a “Canadian initiative,” but added Ottawa is trying to gather information about Canadians in Kurdish-run camps in the country.

Last week, former U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith said he helped a Canadian woman get out of a camp in northeastern Syria, sparking questions about what the woman’s release could mean for other Canadians. Mr. Galbraith had previously helped get the woman’s four-year-old daughter out of a camp in March.

Mr. Garneau said the Canadian woman is currently in Iraq, and that her release from the camp “was not in any way organized or facilitated by Canada,” while speaking with reporters on Monday after the conclusion of his visit to Jordan, Israel and the West Bank.

“Due to provisions of the Privacy Act, we’re not going to provide any further information. But this was not a Canadian initiative,” Mr. Garneau said.

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The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces detained thousands of people from more than 60 countries, including Canada, who were living among Islamic State (IS) terrorists when the group’s final holdout in the town of Baghouz crumbled in 2019. Foreigners were held in two camps, al-Hol and Roj, as well as in prisons across northeastern Syria. Human Rights Watch estimates 45 Canadians are held in Syria, including more than 20 children.

Experts and aid groups have decried the dire conditions of the camps. Last June, Human Rights Watch issued a report that said Canada is defying its international human-rights obligations by failing to assist Canadians who are facing “risks to life, torture, and inhumane and degrading treatment” in northeastern Syria.

At last week’s meeting of the Global Coalition Against Daesh (the Arabic acronym for IS), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that former IS fighters who are detained in Iraq and Syria should be sent back to their home countries where they can be rehabilitated or prosecuted.

Still, Canada has refused to repatriate its citizens from Syria, apart from two exceptions involving children. Global Affairs Canada has repeatedly said that given the security situation, the government’s ability to provide consular assistance is extremely limited.

When asked if Ottawa has a plan for its citizens detained there, Mr. Garneau said, “We’re very much aware of the situation and we’ve been tracking it, and in fact trying to gather as much information about who in the camps is Canadian.

“Consular officials are actively engaged with Syrian Kurdish authorities to get as much information as possible. But let me be clear, it is a Criminal Code offence to travel abroad to engage in terrorist activity and our government takes with the utmost seriousness the threats posed by travelling extremists and returnees of Daesh,” he said.

Mr. Galbraith told The Globe recently that the Canadian woman he helped to get out of the camp provided a great deal of information that he has shared with law enforcement, though he would not specify which agencies.

He said after her release, the woman was brought to Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, and then to the Canadian diplomatic office there. He said the Canadian government has been clear that if a citizen makes their way to a Canadian embassy, Ottawa will help facilitate their travel.

When asked whether the Canadian government was assisting the woman to obtain travel documents, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Patricia Skinner said only that “the safety and security of Canadians always remain the utmost priority for the government of Canada while meeting necessary legal obligations. Due to provisions of the Privacy Act, no further information can be disclosed.”

Mr. Garneau said he met with Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and senior ministers during his first official visit to the Middle East, as well as senior leadership of the Palestinian Authority, including president Mahmoud Abbas, his prime minister and foreign minister.

Mr. Garneau said he provided advice to both his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, telling the Israeli officials that “the continued building of settlements and the evictions and demolitions in East Jerusalem should cease” in order to “lower the temperature.” And he said he counselled the Palestinian Authority to conduct elections as soon as possible.

“I think we need a cooling-off period so that if the temperature goes down, we can start thinking about ways that we can look for that long-term solution,” Mr. Garneau said. “Canada favours the two-state solution, but we have some immediate issues to deal with at the moment.”

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