'I am living in a mother's hell' says Irish woman whose Egyptian husband abducted her sons
Egyptian By Father Children Kelly's Wilkinson Their Ciara Picture: Kidnapped Mandy Were
An Irish woman whose two young children were abducted by their Egyptian father while on holiday in Cairo is “living a mother’s hell” since they were taken against her wishes almost two years.
Mandy Kelly, 37, from Dundalk, Co Louth has had no contact with her two sons since their father refused to let them come home to Ireland after a family holiday turned into a nightmare.
Zayn Mohamed, aged 5, and his three-year-old brother Kareem, were born in Ireland. However, during a visit to Egypt to see their grandmother in April 2022, their father Ramy Gamal Maamoun Mohamed locked their mother Mandy in an apartment and took the children away in a car.
The mother of two has not seen or heard from her children since. Their father blocked all contact with her in June 2022 - three months after the ordeal in Cairo.
Last month, Ms Kelly held a peaceful demonstration outside the RDS in Dublin to appeal to the Egyptian Ambassador to Ireland to highlight her case.
On November 21, she met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin who advised her to use the Egyptian courts.
Ms Kelly told the : “I am living in a mother’s hell at the moment.”
“My sons and I were basically kept hostage at the end of a nightmare holiday.
“My children were ripped from my arms; I don’t actually have words to describe what the last 600 plus days have been like, only sleepless nights.
“The first ten minutes of getting up every morning is just hell. I don’t know where my kids are, I don’t know if they are alive or if they are well," Ms Kelly said.
She criticised what she says is a lack of support for people like her whose children have been taken by a partner.
“I don’t know anything. I have to keep telling my truth which is incredibly difficult, I feel there is no support for parents in this situation.
Zayn and Kareem travelled to Egypt with their parent to meet their grandmother in February 2022. The boys were due to return to Ireland on March 12.
Ms Kelly said she saw nothing of concern to suggest that the holiday would end in a nightmare.
The Irish Examiner has seen correspondence which showed her husband had signed on at Monaghan Garda Station on February 2, 2022, as part of his ongoing application for Irish citizenship.
“He also undertook an undergrad degree before we left Ireland for that trip to Cairo” said Ms Kelly.
“He studied International Business with Dorset College, we were just like any normal young couple, working hard and trying to do our best for our two kids.
“They were also incredibly well looked after by their grandmother here; my mum is Patricia Ward.”
Zayn was registered to start junior infants in September in Dundalk and both his parents went along to see his new school.
However, on March 11, just one day before they were due to leave Egypt to return home, Ms Kelly said her husband “turned into a monster”.
“He admitted to me that he was not going to back to Ireland” she said. “He had planned to take me for coffee, and he said he did that in a public place in case I reacted which would mean he could call the police.
“It was unbelievably traumatic. I tried to calm him down like any mother would, we went for a walk, and we had an argument.
“He chose for us to stay in an apartment complex so I could not call for help like I could if we were in a hotel.
“He took the kids away in a car and locked me out. I was so distressed. Then he came back that evening and he locked me in the apartment, and I was basically kept as a hostage.
“For the next 24 hours he told me that I needed to sell my home so I could give him the money. He threatened me with violence, and arrest, and told me I’d never see my children again.
“A family member had sold a property at the time also, and there was a substantial amount of money and he said this was a way of trying to negotiate seeing my children again.
“In a way I know god was looking after me, I don’t know how I coped with it, when I look back.”
Ms Kelly said she feared for her safety and was afraid things would escalate but did not know where to turn to.
She said that she tried to get help in Cairo but none was forthcoming. “I contacted the Irish Consular service in Cairo and the Department of Foreign Aaffairs, not a single person did anything for me. I knew I was not going to be helped. I knew I was on my own.
“He forgot to lock the apartment before he left that second time and when I realised, I just got my stuff and went straight to the airport. I stayed until March 17, I sat in the airport for 12 hours on March 16 and rang Ramy and told him I’d be there, and I could take the children home. But he never showed up.
Ms Kelly says she was "dealing with a monster; he had his family who helped him take the children and that was it. I was in a different country; I knew I had to go.
Ms Kelly has not seen or spoke to her children since. "He blocked all communication with me in June 2022”.
The case of the Mohamed siblings is included in the 29 cases of child abductions recorded in 2023 by the Department of Justice, involving children taken from Ireland.
The latest figures also show that to date, there are 31 cases involving children brought to Ireland where the assistance of the Central Authority was sought.
There have been 83 cases involving 126 abductions from Ireland since January 1, 2021.
Egypt is not signed to the Hague Convention on Child Abductions, which makes Ms Kelly’s case more challenging.
A bilateral agreement between Ireland and Egypt on child abductions, was first raised by former Justice Minister Alan Shatter in October 2014, however there was no further progress on the matter.
That came about after the family of Faris Daniel Heeney highlighted how the then 2-year-old was dressed as a girl and smuggled through Dublin airport on his half-sister’s passport.
Faris, who was born in Dublin and is now 15 years old has been living with his father in the Egyptian city of Tanta, since July 2009.
The child was taken from his Irish mother Norma Heeney without her consent after an overnight access visit, at a time when his father was facing criminal charges.
Despite a high-profile international campaign by the heartbroken family no agreement ever came to fruition.
His grandmother Marian Heeney recently told the Irish Examiner that the government “did nothing to help us” at the time.
She said, “We were promised the sun moon and stars, but nothing came to fruition. It was really a horrific time; it broke us to pieces.
“The toughest part was visiting Faris in Egypt after trying to make some kind of peace with his father for the child’s sake.
“There was no help and no financial support, we did everything on our own and Faris remains there. We were doing up affidavits for court cases that we were promised in Egypt – nothing went ahead”.
Ms Kelly said she is familiar with the case of Faris Heeney and is now calling on the government to continue work on a bilateral agreement between Ireland and Egypt.
“I don’t want any other Irish citizen to ever, ever have to go through this,” she said.
“I have lobbied tirelessly but have got nowhere really. I reported the crime, from there all I’ve managed to do is get domestic arrest warrants, but the process is so bad.
“I have not spoken to my children in nearly two years.
“I have sent countless emails; I’ve knocked on so many doors. I’ve done everything.
“I still believe diplomacy will get justice, but I am starting to get mentally and physically exhausted.
“Egypt acknowledges the crime but there is no action. I’ve been in touch with the Ministry of Justice, through mediation and consular service.
“They have advised me to bring a case to Egypt but even the Egyptian lawyers told me that will get me nowhere.
“I am trying to encourage the Egyptian Ambassador to put pressure on the Egyptian authorities to arrest the kidnapper of my two sons, the kidnapper is my estranged husband.
“I met with Michael Martin who told me that I am running out of time and to use the Egyptian courts.”
Ms Kelly and her husband had been married for almost five years and had been together for around nine years.
They met while she was living and working in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The couple moved back to Ireland where they settled down and got married.
“When we came back to Ireland, we had a tough start, we were trying to buy a house and start up in life, but just like any other family.
“We had two gorgeous babies, what more could you want.
“Looking back now, there were red flags, but unfortunately when you are sucked in with an abuser, you don’t realise it. This is why I want my story to give hope for people in the future.
“Parental abduction is not being recognised as a crime here and yet it is the highest form of abuse.
“"I've been very frustrated that all of the tools to help me and my children aren't being exercised.
“Ireland has yet to issue a European arrest warrant despite the case meeting all of the requirements. The abductor could freely travel to Disney-Paris and return to Egypt simply because this loophole that could be easily closed has not.
“It worries me that this is not being taken seriously for the criminal matter that it is.
“I really want a bilateral agreement set up between both countries no matter what happens just so no one else ever has to go through this.”
In a statement from the Department of Justice said: “The Minister has every sympathy for the difficult circumstances outlined.
“The Central Authority for Child Abduction at the Department of Justice, which is the national authority in Ireland for dealing with cases under the 1980 Hague Convention, has been made aware of this case.
“Unfortunately, however, they can only assist on cases where children have been removed from this jurisdiction to a country that has signed up to the Convention and Egypt have not signed up to the Convention.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Consular Assistance Office, are best placed to provide assistance in cases involving countries that are not signed up to the Hague Convention, or where there is no agreement between Ireland and that country.
“Furthermore, if a child has been abducted from Ireland and brought to a country that is not a party to the Hague Convention, their parent(s) should contact a lawyer in Ireland for advice on what legal proceedings may be necessary in the Irish Courts”.
While the office of the Egyptian Ambassador to Ireland Sherif Elkholi told the Irish examiner that they are aware of the case and said, “We met with Ms Kelly and we have much sympathy for her, but we have advised her to take a case in Egypt, and then we can act on any order that is made”.