GENEVA – A delegation of UN human rights experts called on Canada on Thursday to return a woman from Syria who is suffering from life-threatening ailments.
Kimberly Polman, a Canadian national, has been held in several camps since March 2019 without facing any charges or going through the legal system. According to the experts, she is being kept at Roj camp in Syria's northeast under conditions that "reach the threshold of torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment."
She went to Syria in 2015 at the request of her future husband, whom she met online, according to experts.
"Victims or potential victims of human trafficking should not be placed in situations where they are subjected to numerous forms of abuse," the experts said in a statement. "Their home state's inability to protect individuals in such situations perpetuates and leads to further victimisation of those who have already been victims of violence and trauma," the statement stated.
Experts say the Canadian government has ignored her family's requests for repatriation, immediate medical care, and assistance in replacing her Canadian passport, which is required for any return to Canada.
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