Young Terrorists or Young Innocents? Examining Canadian Public Policies and Praxis in Abandoning, Repatriating, and Integrating Children Born of ISIS's Members

This research examines the 25 Canadian children detained in Al-Hol detention camp whose mother in the camp or their family in Canada wishes they would be repatriated to their country of origin, in this case, Canada. This research analyzes the position of the Canadian government with regards to repatriation, and reviews existing policies concerning returning children with the goal of providing a safe life to the children born of ISIS parents by repatriating them to Canada from Al-Hol detention camp. The Canadian government has not taken a proactive stance with regard to these children, which has created moral, legal, political, diplomatic and security dilemmas. This thesis had found that there are no direct laws and policies in Canada that address repatriation or integration of the children of foreign fighters, which delimited the possibility of reviewing previous Canadian public policies. As a result, this research examines United States, France and United Kingdom's laws and policies to repatriation versus Canada's approaches to repatriation. The research aims to answer two central questions: What are the practices, policies, and law provisions that Canada needs to implement to ensure the children's repatriation and integration is in line with the "best interest" of the child and long-term strategic security interests of Canada? Should and can Canada adopt similar repatriation and integration policies as the United States, United Kingdom, and France? This research is organized around three complementary objectives: 1. Reviewing Canada's position on the repatriation of the children born of ISIS parents. 2. Surveying the policies put in place in the United States, United Kingdom, and France on the repatriation of the children born of ISIS parents. 3. Providing policy recommendations for Canada in order to help these children in accessing basic justice care and be repatriated to Canada.