The family of a Canadian woman who left to become part of ISIS and is now in a refugee camp in northeastern Syria now wants government help bringing her home.

The sister of 46-year-old Kimberley says if she’s broken the law in her three years in Syria, then punish her through the legal system.

But there’s no reason to have a Canadian citizen in a dangerous place across the world, says her sister during an interview in the Fraser Valley.

“I think she should come back and face any consequences that she has to face,” she said, who has asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

She said Kimberley converted to Islam shortly after 9/11 as part of a desire to help people. She had had a tough childhood, including having three now-adult children at a young age. Her sister said she was at a vulnerable time in her life.

Then she started talking to someone online – a common thread in the stories of the people who have decided to leave. She went on a trip to Austria about three years ago, sent some photos of herself in that country, and then disappeared.

It was the RCMP who told the family she was in Syria.

“It was very shocking for us, and devastating,” her sister said.

They believe that man at some point became her first husband. A desperate escape attempt from him landed her in prison, her sister said, and when she came out she was half her original weight.

"I figured it wasn't an organization that you could just walk away from and that proved correct," her sister said.

CTV National News and W5 tracked down Kimberley in the Al-Hawl camp in Syria. She told CTV’s London Bureau Chief Paul Workman that running away wasn’t an option.

“There’s guns everywhere. You can’t just walk out. It’s not like you can walk down the street. They’ll turn you right back,” she said last month, adding that she had been disillusioned by the genocidal terrorist group.

"I wish that I hadn't gotten caught up in a world of lies and secrets and fear," she said. “I had no idea how much I would miss my own country.”

There are about 1,500 foreign women and children being held at Al-Hawl. The local Kurdish forces want them gone but countries including Canada are in no rush to help.

“This is a dangerous and dysfunctional part of the world," Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said last month.

Britain and the United states have recently stripped some so-called “ISIS brides” of their citizenships.

In Canada, a Toronto man who tried to join the group was sentenced to four years in prison this week.

No Canadian government official has visited Al-Hawl camp even though there are several Canadians there.

Kimberley’s sister says she understands why people would be concerned. But she says in regular communication with her sister over an app, she does not believe she is a threat.

She has been fleeing from place to place, as the war has gone badly for the caliphate. She shared a photo of a young baby that she helped in a makeshift hospital.

She divorced her first husband and is now married to another man. A bomb went off in her driveway – and the two sisters use humour to cope with the situation.

“#howrude” is a hashtag that Kimberley added to a message describing the incident.

She has had no more kids – making her luckier than some other Canadian women who are also at the camp, who are now raising the children of ISIS fighters.

And her family, some of whom who are devout Christians, are hoping that Canadians see one of their own and can get her some consular help and travel documents, she said.