Canadian Mothers Plead For Their Kids 'Abducted' To Lebanon By Their Fathers
"I am grieving for my living kids." - Jolly Bimbachi
When Jolly Bimbachi, mother of three kids, agreed that her then-husband take their two little sons for a trip to Lebanon, she didn't think it was the last time she would see them.
But it has been over 5 years, and she has only seen her two young boys once since they were abducted by their father.
At the time, Abdel-Ghani and Omar Ahmad were 4 and 6 years old. They were living in Canada happily with their mother, father, and older sister.
When their paternal grandmother fell into depression for serious family matters, Jolly thought it would be a good idea to have the kids visit her in Lebanon to relieve some of her pain.
"I loved his family like my own. I had no reason to suspect that [my boys] would not return."
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However, shortly after arriving in Lebanon, her now ex-husband called her to say that the only way she'll ever see her boys again was if she moved to Lebanon, where he said she was not allowed to work nor leave the house without him.
Soon, she also found out that he had stolen all her life's savings as well as her gold jewelry.
"The law in Lebanon does not recognize parental abductions as a crime and that is why people who commit these criminal acts can get away with it," Jolly told The961. "The Lebanese law views this situation as a family matter and asks that the families work it out."
However, she says, her ex-husband does not even open the space for a discussion.
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"He has left me alienated from the kids, and because I was married in the Sunni court, I have to be judged under Sunni law," she said and added that since she is not living in Lebanon, she doesn't have rights to her children.
Struggles With A Lawyer
She quickly hired a lawyer named Chawkat Houalla, but claims that he lied to her and led her to give up her children.
Jolly cannot read Arabic. The lawyer had her sign translated documents, convincing her that she was just giving up spousal support and child support to show the courts in Lebanon that she's not after money but only wants her children back.
Apparently, once that was done and she paid the lawyer, he let her down. "That lawyer got his money and I never heard from him again," she said.
When she hired another lawyer, they found out that her previous lawyer did not do anything - not even finalize the divorce. Instead, he made her sign a document giving up her rights to her children.
"That part was not translated to me. I would have never signed it and I would never give up the rights to my own children. That document caused me to lose the case, but we will appeal the decision of the courts."
"But because this is in Lebanon, there is no accountability, and I cannot file anything against the previous lawyer. In total, I have spent over $25,000 in lawyer fees and have gotten nowhere," she told The961.
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"My ex-husband has full control of my children and makes all the decisions. I have no say in anything," Jolly told us. "My rights as their mother have been stripped away, voided, and this has made me feel like they were not just kidnapped by their father, but by the whole country."
"I am upset and extremely sad. Everything in my body hurts and the pain is never-ending. The sea without salt is no longer called the sea, therefore, what do you call a mother without her children. I am nothing," she expressed.
Unbearable Pain & Getting Detained in Syria
As the pain became unbearable, Jolly made an attempt to retrieve her children on her own in 2017. She traveled to Lebanon, followed by her Canadian friend, Sean Moore, to try and bring her children back to Canada through Syria, where they ended up getting caught by an al-Qaeda-affiliate, Tahrir al-Sam (HTS)!
Jolly said the whole ordeal left them traumatized. Her children ended up being sent back to their father and she and Moore were sent back to Canada.
Her story was even featured on Canada's CBC News.
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"My boys are growing without me in a country with no financial stability in a household with no routine, and in a society which does not acknowledge the need for a nurturing mother," said Jolly.
"I am a strong supporter of co-parenting and believe that it is the right of each child to have access to each parent. We both brought these kids into the world. They were conceived out of love," she added.