Ottawa to allow return of Canadian who spent years in Syrian prison camps: Justice

OTTAWA — The lawyer for a Canadian woman who spent two years in Syrian prison camps says he’s trying to help get her home from Iraq after Ottawa agreed to give her an emergency travel document.

Lawyer Paul Champ says he is working with Global Affairs Canada to get authorization from Kurdish officials in northern Iraq for her departure and to identify an appropriate flight.

In a letter Thursday to Champ, a Justice Canada official says the Immigration Department has authorized the issuance of a travel document for the woman, who cannot be publicly named due to a judge’s confidentiality order.

The development comes after she asked the Federal Court to compel Ottawa to give her an emergency document so she could return home.