The mother of four children allegedly abducted from Vancouver Island says it’s been a struggle to get information from police and Canadian authorities on the investigation into their whereabouts.
Canadian and international police have been searching for the children since August, when they were allegedly abducted by their father overseas.
Alison Azer and her ex-husband, former Comox Valley doctor Saren Azer, have shared custody of the children.
At the beginning of August, he traveled with the children to Paris. They were last seen in Germany on Aug. 13.
It’s believed Azer’s ex-husband, a Khurdish Canadian, took the children to Sulaimaniya, in Northern Iraq.
“The situation there is not good. There is significant conflict on the ground in Kurdistan and unfortunately that’s impeding the investigative efforts in finding the children,” she said.
Azer said the last two months have been a nightmare.
“I can only imagine how confused they are, how scared they are, how much they miss their mom, how they know that they mom would be missing them.”
WATCH: A well-known Comox doctor is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant, facing charges of abducting his children. John Daly has details of this developing story.
International search warrants have been issued for Saren Azer and the children’s pictures have been posted on Interpol’s website. Azer said it hasn’t been easy dealing with police and government officials in Canada.
“The challenge is getting tangible, concrete information that I can line up against what I’m hearing from some of my contacts on the ground,” said Azer.
Azer said she can only speculate why her ex-husband hasn’t returned with the children, leaving herself and many others with more questions than answers.
“What kind of a man, what kind of a father would take his children away from the safety, the security, the comfort of Canada and bring them here? Here, to a land where thousands and thousands of people are fleeing.”
In the meantime, she’s launched her own online campaign to get her kids back. Fundraisers are helping to cover her mounting travel costs.
“I had to travel to Washington to find out that my children had been taken to Khurdistan, I couldn’t find that out from my own government,” she said.
While she wrestles for information, pictures and bits of video and audio of her kids are what she’s clinging to.
She says some days, it’s more than she can bear.
“Everything looks so dark and I have to convince myself to take my next breath, because for more than two months, I have lost all that matters to me.”
A vigil to raise awareness about the missing children will be held at the Comox United Church at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
For more information about the missing children, go here.
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