11 Year Old Sara Was Kidnapped & Trafficked Across Africa
We’re so pleased that 12 year old Sara*, who we’ve been helping to reunite with her sister in the UK from North Africa, is finally back with her family and safe. After 7 years apart and a really heart-wrenching journey we couldn’t be more relieved.
Aged 11 she was kidnapped from school – taken from her family – she was then trafficked to North Africa. Abused and mentally traumatised, Sara eventually managed to escape her traffickers and immediately went into hiding with a woman from her village.
By this point she was extremely weak and living in fear that she would be taken again.
Sara’s sister, distraught in the UK having no clue of her whereabouts, finally received a call. She got in touch with our team to see if we could connect them with lawyers to help her reach the UK as quickly as possible.
We found Sara and her sister a lawyer and continued to support her case in any way we could. We provided evidence for the appeal and got in touch with her sister’s local MP to try and expedite a decision to get Sara to safety.
Disappointingly the Home Office initially denied Sara the right to be with her sister. It was at this point that Sara began to lose hope and her mental health deteriorated rapidly, she even stopped talking to her sister
Luckily with the help of our lawyers, she won on appeal. And now she is safe with her sister, rebuilding her mental health and getting her life back on track.
*Sara is not her real name in order to protect her identity.