Kidnapped by My Father

Taal: NL
Categorie: documentaire

Jackie Saleh has lived through every mother's worst nightmare. Back in 1986, her world was shattered when her husband abducted her three young daughters from their Cardiff home and took them to Yemen. Her youngest daughter Safia was just a toddler. Now over three decades on, Safia is finally coming home. Jackie travels to Heathrow to meet the daughter she doesn't really know. Safia doesn't speak English and is coming to Cardiff with her husband and four children - four grandchildren Jackie has never met. Safia and her family have suffered in the civil war in Yemen, including their house being bombed. Now, can mother and daughter start to make up for a lost childhood and begin a new relationship? This is an emotional story of a woman who never gave up hope. After her daughters' kidnap in 1986, Jackie's heart-breaking story made headlines across the country. Police discovered that her Yemeni husband Sadek Saleh had boarded a plane to Saudi Arabia, but the British government were powerless to trace the children. Months turned into years and there were no leads, other than a cruel message Sadek sent on the back of a photograph of the three girls, stating that Jackie would never see her children again. She feared her daughters were lost forever, but never allowed herself to give up hope. A breakthrough came in 2001 as Jackie received a letter written in Arabic from her eldest daughter Rahannah. After fourteen years, Jackie was overjoyed to learn the girls were alive and well. Against government advice, Jackie travelled to Yemen to visit them. Rahannah and middle daughter Nadia were by this point grown-up and married. They spoke little English but in video footage captured by journalist and supporter, Val Bodden, at the time, the joy of the daughters at being reunited with their mother is clear. Youngest daughter Safia was still a teenager and living with her father. Jackie was only able to see her locked in a classroom for fifteen minutes before Sadek arrived and later threatened her with a gun. Rahannah and Nadia visited Wales but later returned to their husbands and started families of their own. But tragedy struck when Nadia died aged just 28, giving birth to her fourth child. As Yemen was plunged into civil war again, communication became patchy, but Safia tracked down Jackie on social media.. Video calls between Jackie and Safia were interrupted by the sound of bombs dropping around her. Yemen suffered the world's worst humanitarian crisis in decades, as Safia raised her children amidst famine and outbreaks of cholera, fearing for their lives. All the while, Jackie was battling to bring Safia home. After years of heartache and dashed hope, Jackie dared to dream that she could be reunited with the child that was kidnapped over thirty years before. Her family set up a crowdfunding campaign, enabling Safia and her family to flee to Cairo. There they awaited the paperwork allowing them entry to the UK - and after weeks of waiting, permission was finally granted. BILLINGS Cont. Submitted 28-Jul-2020 Nothing can prepare Jackie for the momentous occasion of Safia's return. She travels to Heathrow airport to meet the family off the plane. It's a bittersweet journey as she's reminded of all the robbed years and milestones, and her other two daughters - but Jackie is determined to look to the future. As the pair embrace for the first time in almost two decades, it's a moment of indescribable emotion and relief for both of them. Mother and daughter are virtually strangers, but both attest that their bond is one that has remained unbroken. Jackie also meets her son-in-law and four grandchildren for the first time and helps them navigate Welsh life - all the while overcoming cultural differences and a language barrier. Cardiff is a world away from the poverty and civil unrest of Yemen. After a lifetime of pain, the future is finally a hopeful one for them all.