Family of orphan in Syria going to court

The case of a five-year-old Canadian girl stuck in Syria appears to be headed to court as her family escalates efforts to bring her to Canada.

The girl known publicly as Amira was found on the side of a road last year after her parents and siblings were killed in an airstrike, and she was taken to a refugee camp.

Her uncle, known as Ibrahim, has been trying to get her out of Syria and to Canada but the federal government has refused to help.

His lawyers filed a lawsuit in Federal Court Tuesday saying that in failing to assist the child, the government is violating her rights.

"Ibrahim has done everything humanly possible, including travelling to Syria on his own without security or protection, in an effort to bring his niece home to Canada," the application says.

"The respondents, despite their statutory and international law obligations and the rights of the applicant Amira, guaranteed by the charter, have for more than a year been unwilling to take a single step to enable the repatriation of Amira to take place."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had been asked on June 29 why the federal government wasn't doing more to get Canadians out of the region.

Trudeau said while there are countries that have diplomats on the ground in Syria, Canada is not one of them and it remains a dangerous place.

"We will continue to ensure that we're keeping as a priority the protection of Canadians working abroad, particularly in this COVID context, but in every context," he said.

In the court application, lawyers note that other countries with no consular services in Syria have leaned on other countries or humanitarian groups to help repatriate their citizens.

The court documents state that Amira is one of 47 Canadians, 26 of whom are children, stuck in northeastern Syria.

The regional government has urged countries to repatriate their citizens.

In the court documents, lawyers say Ibrahim met personally with officials to plead Amira's case.

The documents say he was assured that upon Canada's request, and coupled with the attendance of a delegate or representative of the Canadian government, the local government "would be only too pleased to facilitate the repatriation of Amira to Canada."