Mother’s 5-Year Battle to Reunite with Sons Kidnapped to Dubai

21 April 2022 – byGinette · 2 min read

For 5 years, Nazhia has lived with the fear of never seeing her two sons kidnapped and taken to Dubai again. All her attempts to recover her children have so far been unsuccessful. But she does not give up. The story of a fight!

Nazhia Mahmoudi’s fight, a Brussels mother, began in July 2017 when she was in the process of divorcing her husband who lives in Dubai. Claiming that he misses his children and would like to spend time with them, he receives a visit from the two boys, then aged 8 and 6, reports bx1.

Nohe and Ibrahim were simply kidnapped by their father, who suspected that at the end of the divorce, the custody of the children would not be granted to him. For the young mother, the situation is unbearable. "I cried so much that I had to numb part of my heart to be able to cope with this situation," she confesses.

For months, she no longer has any news of her two boys. She files a complaint and a judge grants her exclusive custody. An international arrest warrant is issued against her ex-husband and a judge tries to re-establish contact. "He finally granted me 5 minutes every Thursday. I spoke to my eldest for two minutes only once a week and it was always just phone calls, it was never even video calls," she explains. But since June 17, 2021, the ex-spouse has cut off all contact, leaving the family mother more worried than ever.

The only recourse available to Nazhia after the failure of a mutual agreement is at the legal level. But this will not be an easy task, as the United Arab Emirates has not signed the Hague Convention, which aims to promote collaboration between the States concerned regarding the abduction of children. "There is always the possibility of acting in the country itself," explains Arnaud Gillard, a lawyer specializing in family law. "The case law, even in the Emirates, is evolving towards a balance between the father and the mother. But it can be a colossal cost," he adds.

But nothing seems to discourage the young mother who, to finance the costs imposed by the legal recourse, tries to raise funds via the Cotizup platform and wishes to raise awareness among as many people as possible via her Instagram page @jamais.sans.mes.fils. Her story has moved many people who try to provide her with support and comfort.