Girl kidnapped to Syria returns home 1.5 years later

ISTANBUL

A five-year-old Belgian-Moroccan girl, who had been abducted by his father and taken to Syria in 2017, has finally returned home 1.5 years later, Turkish local media has reported.

After her father died in Syria, she was brought to Turkey by the officials of the governor’s office in Hatay, a southern Turkish province bordering Syria.

The child reportedly lived in a tent camp in Syria for 1.5 years before being brought to Hatay.

In Turkey, the abducted girl met with her mother.
Following the procedures at the immigration authority, the girl and the mother, accompanied by Belgian government officials, arrived in Brussel’s Zaventem Airport late on Nov. 27.

“I provided all support I could give to the mother since the girl was abducted by the father. The mother had a very hard time,” said Mahinur Özdemir, a Belgian lawmaker of Turkish origin.

“I was in Hatay when the mother rejoined with the girl and I witnessed their happiness,” she added.