Interpol has posted a Yellow Notice (missing people alert) for two Irish boys being held in Egypt by their father.Mandy Kelly from Dundalk has not seen her sons for more than 1,000 days.
Despite a court order in Egypt that awarded her full custody of her sons in July, she is now travelling back to Cairo for another court hearing.
Ms Kelly’s children, Zayn Mohamed, 6, and Kareem, 4, have been in Egypt with her ex-partner since 2022.
The judiciaries in the Republic of Ireland and Egypt have both ruled that Ms Kelly’s children must be returned to her.
Speaking on BBC, Ms Kelly said it was every parent’s worst nightmare.
“There is huge frustration that my two sons are not in my care,” she said.
“Obviously as a parent I am very concerned about their welfare. Are they going to school? Is Kareem being properly looked after? There are multiple questions that I still have.”
When Ms Kelly and her then-partner travelled with their children to Egypt in 2022 it was to meet their father’s family.
Ms Kelly said she had believed it was in the boys’ “best interests” that they got to know their paternal relatives.
When the family was due to return to Ireland in March 2022, Ms Kelly’s partner refused, taking the two children away.
Ms Kelly has been working with both Irish and Egyptian authorities ever since, to be reunited with her children.
“It is so tough, this is my fifth trip over and it doesn’t get easier, it hurts me deeply having to leave without my kids but there will be a day when my two children will be with me and we will all leave together,” she said.
Egypt has not signed up to the Hague Convention on child protection, making the case more challenging for Irish authorities.
It has been raised with several Egyptian authorities by the Taoiseach (prime minister), Simon Harris, and Department of Foreign Affairs.
Last week, President Michael D Higgins wrote to Ms Kelly to confirm he had raised the matter with his Egyptian counterpart during his visit last week.
Ms Kelly said: “I just want to be able to hug my two children in the mornings, put their uniform on, take them to school and cook them dinner, just normal things that people take for granted.”