U.S. Welcomes Canada’s Repatriation from Northeast Syria

The United States appreciates Canada’s repatriation today of 14 women and children from displaced persons camps in northeast Syria.

We are also grateful to our local partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces, for their leadership in addressing this complicated situation.  The United States supported Canada’s repatriation today and stands ready to assist other nations in their repatriation efforts.

Resolving the humanitarian and security challenges that followed the dismantlement of ISIS’s so-called “caliphate” is a key priority for the United States and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS/Daesh.  Approximately 10,000 individuals from more than 60 countries outside Syria and Iraq remain in the al-Hol and Roj displaced persons camps in northeast Syria.  Repatriation is the only durable solution for this population, most of whom are vulnerable children under the age of 12.  Separately, 10,000 ISIS fighters are being held in detention facilities across the region.  This constitutes the single largest concentration of detained terrorist fighters in the world and remains a threat to regional and international security.