How Far Would You Go For A Loved One?

As ISIS is being driven out of its territory in Syria and Iraq, it leaves behind a delicate issue: what should happen to the thousands of people who were living under the Islamic State and now have nowhere to go? Those thousands include women and children who followed their husbands and fathers to ISIS territory, people who were brought there by force and, of course, the volunteer fighters—many of whom are from Europe and North America and who are not exactly being welcomed back by their countries.

This episode of Embedded brings the story of Reema, a Canadian woman who went to Syria to look for her brother who had joined ISIS some four years ago and was now imprisoned in Syria by Kurdish forces. Putting aside the political and logistical implications of this situation, this story is also about what you do when someone you love gets caught up in a mess so big you can’t even wrap your mind around it. (On a similar note, check out Invisibilia's episode about empathy and how our relationship and use of it have changed over the decades.)