A general view of Karama camp for internally displaced Syrians, is shown Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, by the village of Atma, Idlib province, Syria. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Omar Albam
OTTAWA – A federal lawyer says a judge’s erroneous direction that Canadian officials should secure the release of four men from detention in northeastern Syria amounts to a “wholesale expansion” of the law.
Lawyer Anne Turley says the decision creates a new right to be returned to Canada, or even be rescued by Ottawa, when a citizen finds themselves in trouble abroad, despite no involvement of Canada in the foreign detention.
Turley made the point today in asking the Federal Court of Appeal to overturn a January ruling by Federal Court Justice Henry Brown.
In his decision, Brown said Ottawa should request repatriation of the men in Syrian prisons run by Kurdish forces as soon as reasonably possible and provide them with passports or emergency travel documents.
Brown ruled the men are also entitled to have a representative of the federal government travel to Syria to help facilitate their release once their captors agree to hand them over.
Federal lawyers argue Brown’s expansive approach overshoots the text, purpose and protected interests of the Charter right to enter Canada, and is inconsistent with established domestic and international law.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.
