Unable to bring her children back to Canada with her, Alison Azer has returned heavy-hearted and empty-handed.
The former St. Albert resident, now residing in British Columbia’s Comox Valley, went searching for her four missing children more than two months ago in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq.
The children, Sharvahn, 11, Rojevahn, 9, Dersim, 7 and Meitan, 3, were allegedly abducted by their father and were photographed by security cameras arriving at Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah International Airport Iraq on Aug. 15.
Azer’s ex-husband, Dr. Saren Azer, whose legal name is Salahaddin Mahmudi-Azer, reportedly refuses to surrender the children.
On Wednesday, Jan. 13 Azer posted this website note to all her followers:
“Tragically, complications arose from Saren’s unwillingness to comply with international law. I tried everything I could think of. Nothing worked. On the 150th day of my children’s abduction, I returned to Canada with the heaviest of hearts. I wouldn’t wish an hour of this nightmare on anyone.”
Azer travelled to Kurdistan in late October with hopes of locating her children. By Dec. 1, she had discovered where the children were hidden and was feeling optimistic.
However, on Jan. 5, one of her posts sounded less promising.
“They are being held in a guarded compound. It is very cold now, especially where they are, and there is no central heating. They are not schooled and have no other children nearby.”
Azer closes by reaching out to all her supporters in Canada and Kurdistan and extends her gratitude for all their assistance.
“I will never stop working to return my children to the home from which they were stolen.”
A Canada-wide warrant was issued for Dr. Azer in August last year and Interpol has red flagged him. The children continue to be listed on the Interpol missing persons’ website under a yellow alert.
Dr. Azer is a Canadian-Kurdish specialist of internal medicine and an international humanitarian. He met with former defence minister Jason Kenney in Feb. 2015 and later with former prime minster Stephen Harper, praising the Conservative government’s efforts to extend Canada’s military missions battling Islamic extremists in Iraq.
Alison Azer has not released any information on her future course of action.
