It is much worse than this. Most Canadians in Syria are children who are stuck in 2 camp, al-Hawl and Roj, where children routinely get sick due to polluted drinking water & die of the cold in winter. There are 5 Canadian men (imprisoned), 15 women and 25 children in NE Syria. https://twitter.com/rafsanchez/status/1309795562590437378">https://twitter.com/rafsanche...

1000s of children of different nationalities are held in al-Hawl & Roj. Their govs refuse to take them back, despite recognizing that this policy kicks the can down the road & that it& #39;s an environment ensuring their radicalization. This policy is not just immoral, but also stupid

The media played a critical role in demonizing these children, labeling them "ISIS children" & "ISIS families". The govs refusing to take back their nationals are cowards, but irresponsible, sensationalist & dehumanizing reporting contributed to making repatriations unpalatable.

I was at a workshop w/ officials from several countries whose nationals are confined in al-Hawl right after Trump announced the total US pullout from NE Syria (which he walked back a few days later). They expected the regime to take over the camp, due the SDF& #39;s looming collapse.

At the time, the women held in the camp were telling me that they& #39;re preparing to fight to the death to avoid being captured alive & raped by Assad& #39;s soldiers (a common practice by these men) & then transferred to Assad& #39;s infamous torture dungeons.

The Western officials recognized their nationals will be tortured & possibly weaponized by Assad (he had sent jihadists to Iraq after US invasion), yet they still did not budge on their position not to repatriate their nationals. They explained it& #39;ll be politically costly.