(Global News) The U.S. may have its reasons for urging Canada to repatriate ISIS fighters from the Middle East, but experts say Ottawa is under no clear legal obligation to bring foreign fighters back.
On Monday, the U.S. State Department issued a plea to countries to repatriate and prosecute their citizens who fought for ISIS and are now being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed alliance dominated by the Kurdish YPG militia.
But Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Tuesday that Canada would not prioritize going into a “dangerous and dysfunctional part of the world” and put diplomatic officials at risk to retrieve Canadians who willfully engaged with terrorist organizations.
Four Canadian fighters are believed to be in SDF custody, along with three women and seven children, according to Global News investigations.
