Human Rights Watch called on Canada to take appropriate measures to assist and restore scores of Canadians held illegally, in very harsh conditions in Syria.
The organization said that the government should restore all of its detained citizens because of their alleged links with ISIS, in order to rehabilitate and reintegrate them, or prosecute them if necessary.
According to the report entitled "Bring me back to Canada: the plight of Canadians detained in northeastern Syria," Canada has not recovered 47 Canadian citizens: 8 men, 13 women, and 26 children, who have been held for more than a year in dirty, crowded and life-threatening conditions.
According to the report, since March 2020, Canada has recovered 40,000 citizens from 100 countries, in response to the outbreak of the Corona virus, including 29 recovering them from Syria.
"If Canada can recover tens of thousands of citizens from all over the world in a matter of weeks, it can certainly restore less than 50 others held in horrific conditions in northeastern Syria," said Lita Taylor, senior researcher in the Crisis and Conflict Department at Human Rights Watch. At stake, they should be repatriated now. "