The move comes after citizens currently held in camps for ISIS family members in Syria challenged Ottawa in court.
Canada intends to repatriate 23 of its citizens currently held in camps for family members of the Islamic State (ISIS) in northeastern Syria, according to officials and lawyers representing the citizens.
The repatriation, which represents the largest group of ISIS family members repatriated to Canada at one time, was determined in two actions on Friday.
First, the Foreign Office said it had decided to repatriate six Canadian women and 13 babies who had been living in the locked camps.
A federal court later ruled that four men seeking repatriation as part of that group must also be sent back to Canada.
“I’ve spoken to the parents and they’re really, really happy,” said lawyer Barbara Jackman, who represents one of the men.
In his ruling Friday, federal judge Henry Brown ordered Ottawa to request the men’s repatriation as soon as possible and provide them with passports or emergency travel documents.
It was not clear when the 23 individuals would be repatriated or if they would face any legal consequences for alleged ties to ISIS.
Lawyers representing the citizens argue that Ottawa is required to repatriate the group under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
According to Human Rights Watch, since the territorial defeat of ISIS in 2019, more than 42,400 foreign adults and children with alleged ties to the group have been held in camps in Syria run primarily by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The rights group warned in a 2020 report about Canadians in the camps: “Innocents, like children who never chose to be born or live under ISIS, have no hope of leaving. Meanwhile, any detainees potentially involved in ISIS crimes may never face justice.
At the time, Human Rights Watch said Canadians in the camps included eight men, 13 women and 26 children.
In 2020, Ottawa allowed the return of a five-year-old orphaned girl from Syria after her uncle launched a lawsuit against the Canadian government.
Last October, Canada returned two women and two children from the camps.
Among the men to be repatriated following the latest decision is Jack Letts, a dual British-Canadian citizen whose British citizenship was reportedly revoked in 2019.
Australia, Germany, France, Spain, the US, the Netherlands and the UK have repatriated citizens from Syria.
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