UPDATE: Calgary vigil 1 of 4 in Canada to raise awareness for abducted Azer children
CALGARY – Four young children from Comox, British Columbia were abducted by their father and taken out of the country more than seven months ago.
Their mother, Alison Azer, is still desperate for answers, and is demanding the government steps in to bring her children home.
Sunday, Alison reminisced watching precious moments caught on video with her children, a time when life was a little easier before she said the nightmare began.
“I had a dream about my little guy, Meitan, which was really precious. I could just feel him, feel him in my arms, feel his silky hair under my hand,” Alison said. “It was really painful to wake up and to just have this harsh realization he’s not here.”
READ MORE: ‘I don’t know if they’re alive’ – B.C. mom says dad has taken children to Iraq
The courts allowed Saren Azer to take the children on a holiday out of the country, and they never returned home.
“Alison did not want the kids to go, but it’s court ordered. What can you do? Alison made her objections very clear to the authorities,” Tammy Jeffrey, Alison’s sister-in-law said. Saren is a doctor, an Iranian Kurd, who lived in Canada since the early 1990s.
It’s believed he took the children to northern Iraq. Last year, Alison went to Kurdistan and managed to pinpoint their location.
READ MORE: Comox woman says information on her abducted children hard to come by
Now, she’s lost track of them once again.
“I was able to maintain knowledge of their position up until a month ago, when the bombing started in the region…a carpet bombing campaign in Qandil. Some people are moving over the border into Iran; he’s still being protected by the PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party). I just don’t know where they are,” Azer said.
“I want to take a moment to recognize Miss Azer’s strength and commitment. I want to assure her and this house we are very committed to bringing her children safely home,” parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs Omar Alghabra said.
But despite this promise from the government last month, the children are still not home.
“I think as a country and as a government, I don’t think this should be a partisan issue. We just need to do everything possible to get these kids back in Canada,” said Michelle Rempel, MP for Calgary-Nose Hill.
On Monday, vigils will take place in several provinces to put pressure on the government to act.
“We want to show Alison support, we want to get as many people out there as possible, we want to get her story out so people know what’s going on and know there is something they can do,” Jeffrey said.
And hopefully, bring the family together once again.
The vigil will take place Monday at noon in front of Calgary City Hall and across the country.
There is an international warrant out for Saren Azer’s arrest. The region where it is believed he holds the children is an active war zone.
Editor’s note: This article previously stated the children were from Calgary, but they’re from Comox, B.C.
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