Stephen Fry, Riz Ahmed, Olivia Colman back campaign to repatriate British families detained in northeast Syria

Stephen Fry, Riz Ahmed, and Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman are among a group of celebrities calling on the UK government to rescue British families detained in northeast Syria.

The famous faces are part of the "Bring Them Home" initiative that was co-launched on Tuesday by War Child, Human Rights Watch, and Child Rights International Network.

They signed an open letter addressed to the British government calling for the rescue of 25 British families languishing in camps run by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who control northeast Syria. Among these families are at least 60 children, most of whom are under 10 years old.

The families have been detained in the squalid and violence-ridden camps for close to four years following the collapse of the Islamic State group. 

"These British families have been abandoned by their government and live in squalid conditions where they are exposed daily to life-threatening violence, disease and other deprivations," the letter reads.

The letter details how children have grown up in the "dangerous environment" of the camps with "very limited access" to education, sufficient food, clean water, and medical care. 

Other signatories to the letter include actors Stanley Tucci and Gillian Anderson, as well as Conservative Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and various national security experts.

The letter follows a report last year from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Trafficked Britons in Syria which found that British women and children detained in the camps had been trafficked to the country against their will.

With the UK government failing to respond to the report, the letter accuses it of “reneging on its human rights obligations, abdicating responsibility for its citizens”. 

In February of this year, Shamima Begum, one of the most high-profile detainees in northeast Syria, lost her appeal against the removal of her British citizenship.

Many worry that the treatment of Begum has set a dangerous precedent for how the UK approaches Britons who are trapped in Syria. 

One fear is that the British nationals could be handed over by SDF authorities to Assad-held Syria or Iraq, where they might be tortured or executed.

The UK government is trailing behind other countries when it comes to repatriation efforts. In the last year alone, France, Spain, Australia, Canada, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the US repatriated most of their citizens from northeast Syria.  

A government spokesperson told The Guardian that their priority is to "ensure the safety and security of the UK", and that "each request for consular assistance is considered on a case-by-case basis".