White House calls for release of US journalist Austin Tice held in Syria –after high-profile Russian prisoner swap

Tice was abducted in Damascus in 2012 while reporting on the Syrian Civil War

President Joe Biden and the State Department are again calling for the release of American journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in Syria in 2012.

The call comes on the heels of the largest US-Russian prisoner swap in history, which saw the return of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine Paul Whelan.

Tice was working as a freelance reporter in Syria when he was kidnapped in Damascus, according to the FBI. The agency has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the “safe location, recovery, and return” of the journalist.

"For more than a quarter of his life, Austin has been separated from his family and kept in unknown conditions," the State Department said in a statement. "We know the Syrian government has held Austin, and we have repeatedly offered to find a way to bring him home."

On Wednesday, Biden issued a statement calling for Tice's return to the US.

Austin Tice has been held hostage in Syria for 12 years. Joe Biden and the US State Department once again demanded the Syrian government release Tice back to his family. (Austinticefamily.com)

“This week marks 12 long, terrible years since American Austin Tice was abducted in Syria,” he said. “We have repeatedly pressed the government of Syria to work with us so that we can, at last, bring Austin home. Today, I once again call for his immediate release.”

The US cut ties with Syria in 2011 in response to the civil war in the Middle Eastern nation.

“We stand in solidarity with Austin, his family, and all Americans wrongfully detained and held hostage abroad," Biden said. "I will continue to do everything possible to advocate for and pursue his release and support his loved ones until he is safely returned home.”

The Syrian government has denied holding any Americans, including Tice, but the State Department has maintained that the reporter is still being held in the country.

"This has gone on for far too long. We call on the Syrian government to work with the United States to end Austin’s captivity and to provide an accounting for the fate of other Americans who went missing in Syria," the department said in its statement. "Over the past three and half years our government has secured the release of dozens of Americans held hostage or unjustly detained around the world and we continue to pursue any available path that may lead to Austin’s return."

In anticipation of the upcoming anniversary of Tice's abduction, Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), joined by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, called on the Biden administration to give its "full and active support of our government to secure his release" and to provide Congress with updates on the effort to secure the reporter's release, according to The Hill.

Marc and Debra Tice, the parents of Austin Tice, speak at a press conference. Debra admitted she had a mixed reaction to the recent US-Russia prisoner swap with her son still being held. (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

“As an American and a veteran, Austin deserves the full and active support of our government to secure his release. We also encourage your administration to utilize all available means to further discourage the hostage taking of American citizens," the lawmakers said in their statement to the Biden administration.

Tice's mother, Debra Tice, last saw her son when he was 30 years old. He's now 43, a reality that she told Voice of America she simply "gets past."

She said waiting for the government to secure her son's release has been difficult as presidents and geopolitical circumstances have change.

“Every year it seems like it’s different, because the news is different, and what we’re hearing from the White House changes year to year,” Tice's mother told VOA. “I never know what to expect, which is also just another stressor.”

She had a bittersweet reaction to the recent prisoner swap, noting that she was happy the released Americans were returned, but also frustrated that her son is still in captivity.

“It is just an incredible tumbler of emotions. And as a human and as a mother and as a woman of faith, of course we’re overjoyed to see these people walk free,” she said. “And then there’s the details about how long [the U.S. government] worked on it, and how diligently they worked on it, and how many countries they worked with on it. And that’s the part where I just become so frustrated.”