Sky News to Air Special - Libya The Stolen Children

In a hard-hitting documentary, Sky News Foreign Affairs correspondent Lisa Holland follows British mothers as they attempt to be reunited with their abducted children in Libya.

The mothers all met and married Libyan men in Britain; however, they never imagined that their husbands would take their children back to their home country. As Libya is not signed up to The Hague Convention, there are no international protocols in place, and it remains virtually impossible for them to get their children back.

Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi has granted Sky News unprecedented access to the Muslim country in North Africa. There, mothers and grandparents hope to be reunited with their children in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, thanks to a scheme organised by charity Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB). They have just two weeks to make up for lost time.

Anita Lewis met her Libyan ex-husband through a mutual friend. One Saturday, after they had split up, he came to collect their five young children and didn’t bring them back. For weeks Anita had no idea whether they were dead or alive until she found out he had smuggled his children back to his native country. “For me it was still my worst fear, realising that they were in Libya and knowing I wouldn’t be able to get them back,” says Anita.

In emotional interviews, one of Anita’s daughters reveals how much happier she would be if she could live with her mum in Britain, and one of her sons says he’s angry at his father for taking him without his mum’s consent. Sky News secretly filmed their father, Azzedin Elgirnazi, admitting to the illegal abduction of his children. However, although he is wanted for one of Britain’s biggest cases of child abduction, Libyan authorities refuse to hand him over.

Anita’s story is not unique. Tracey Shirif’s three-year-old daughter Ayesha disappeared overnight in 1992. Her Libyan husband had taken Ayesha to his home country to be raised as a Muslim, leaving Tracey to miss out on most of her daughter’s childhood.

Lisa Osman moved to Libya with her husband and two sons Adam and Omar. Her husband had sworn on the Qur’an that they could return to Britain if they didn’t like it there, but Lisa admits that arguing and violence forced her to come back alone. She now hasn’t seen her children for two years. “I wished I knew what size their feet were so I could take them new shoes,” she says.

Marisse was suffocated by her Libyan partner during the violent abduction of their daughter, Isra.  While Marisse’s parents, Maris and Clary van der Burg, have no desire to see the son-in-law who killed their daughter, they hope to see their grand-daughter for the first time in six years.

In a country where women have very little power, the Libyan fathers can easily deny the mothers and grandparents access to their children. The lucky ones will spend an emotional two weeks getting to know their sons and daughters. But, as they say their goodbyes, they will have no idea when they will see them again.

The show will air on Sky News and Sky News HD on Friday 5 November at 19.00.