Ottawa appeals court ruling directing government to help repatriate four men in Syria

The federal government is appealing a judge's declaration that four Canadian men being held in Syrian camps are entitled to Ottawa's help to return home.

In a filing today in the Federal Court of Appeal, the government asks that a ruling last month by Federal Court Justice Henry Brown be set aside and be placed on hold while the appeal plays out.

In his ruling, Brown directed Ottawa to request repatriation of the men as soon as reasonably possible and provide them with passports or emergency travel documents.

Brown said the men are also entitled to have a representative of the federal government travel to Syria to help facilitate their release once their captors agree to hand them over.

The Canadians are among the many foreign nationals in Syrian camps and jails run by Kurdish forces that reclaimed the war-torn region from the extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

They include Jack Letts, whose parents John Letts and Sally Lane have waged a public campaign to pressure Ottawa to come to his aid.