The Conservatives are saying it’s “unacceptable” that the Liberal government allowed a woman with ties to ISIS to re-enter Canada.
Federal authorities repatriated 33-year-old Dure Amhed and her children from a detention camp in Syria.
“This is but one example of Mr. Trudeau’s neglect of Canada’s national security,” said Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong.
Ahmed was married to well known ISIS militant El Shafee Elsheikh, who was part of “the Beatles,” a group within ISIS known for having British accents.
He is the highest ranking member of ISIS to be tried in the U.S. and is currently in a supermax prison, serving multiple life sentences for his involvement in the murder of eight American, British and Japanese hostages.
“It is unacceptable that the Trudeau government allowed someone affiliated with one of the world’s worst terrorist groups to re-enter Canada without first ensuring the safety and security of Canadians from this terrorist threat,” said Chong in a statement to CBC News.
While speaking in a court, Crown Attorney Marie Comiskey said that Ahmed was “steeped” in ISIS ideology for over eight years while living in an ISIS controlled territory within Syria and subsequently in a detention camp.
It’s “likely” that Ahmed was aware of her husband’s involvement in ISIS before leaving Canada in 2014 to join him in Syria, Crown Comiskey said on Tuesday.
Their relationship has since continued and they have been in communication, argued Comiskey.
Comiskey said there are reasonable grounds to suspect that Ahmed could commit terrorism while in Canada and potentially may recruit and indoctrinate others to join ISIS.
Ahmed’s lawyer, Yoav Niv, argued that there was no admission of criminal liability while arguing the conditions of a terrorism peace bond.
Niv said that so far no one has alleged that Ahmed was present for any criminal activity.
“So we need to be careful with how inflammatory allegations can be made,” said Niv.
“After all, she’s been repatriated. The government decided to bring her back, so whatever security concerns did exist, they weren’t so much that she wasn’t allowed back into the country.”
Jamileh Naso, president of the Canadian Yazidi Association, said she’s “horrified” by the government’s decision to repatriate Ahmed.
The Yazidi Association helps Yazidis after they come to Canada, who have arrived after fleeing ISIS captivity in Syria.
“That is very frightening that someone like that has been welcomed back and repatriated into the country,” said Naso.
Many in her association are frightened to learn that the Trudeau government is repatriating women from Syria.
“We want these folks to face the full brunt of the Canadian justice system,” said Naso. “It does not feel like justice has been served at all.”
Naso lost family members to ISIS, as have many in the Yazidi community.
In 2014, ISIS launched a campaign to eradicate Yazidi people, who are mostly farmers in Northern Iraq and are part of an ancient Kurdish-speaking community.
The federal government welcomed almost 1,200 Yazidi survivors, the majority of whom were women and girls that had been sexually abused and held in captivity by ISIS.
Ahmed has denied any wrongdoing and called her decision to move to Syria a “stupid mistake.”
She has denied having any knowledge of what her husband was involved in.
“I can be charged tomorrow,” said Ahmed. “I could be charged next week, next year.”
“Everything is still ongoing … Obviously Canada’s priority, and most countries’ priority, is public safety. If I was a threat or they found me an imminent threat, I won’t be out. I’d be in jail.”
A judge is expected to rule on the conditions of a terrorism peace bond on Thursday when Ahmed’s case returns to court in Brampton, Ont.
