RCMP arrest two women after they arrive in Canada from Syrian camps

The charges are the first against a Canadian held at camps in Syria for ISIS suspects and their families.

Two Canadians captured in Syria during the fight against the so-called Islamic State were arrested by the RCMP on Tuesday night after their flight landed in Montreal.

The women are the first the Canadian government has brought home from detention camps in northeast Syria for foreign ISIS members and their families.

Oumaimi Chouay, 27, was charged with four terrorism offences, including leaving Canada to participate in the activity of a terrorist group.

She is the first Canadian captured by U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters to face charges in Canada. She was to appear in court Wednesday in Montreal.

A second Canadian, Kimberly Polman, was also arrested but not charged. Instead, RCMP are seeking a terrorism peace bond against her.

Her lawyer Lawrence Greenspon said Polman was expected to be released after signing a recognizance and she would then return to Abbotsford, B.C.

A Canadian government delegation met with officials in rebel-held northeast Syria on Tuesday before the two women were handed over into their custody. Chouay’s two children were also brought back to Canada.

The move is an about-face for the Canadian government, which had previously refused to help bring any of its citizens out of the detention camps, arguing it had no legal obligation to do so and it was too dangerous.