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A B.C. mother has launched a campaign to help find her children after they were allegedly abducted by their father.
Alison Azer was married to Comox doctor Saren Azer, but the marriage ended in divorce and shared custody of their four children. According to Alison, the children were allowed to leave Canada with their father and were scheduled to return at the beginning of the month, but failed to do so.
According to Alison, three years ago she fled from her ex-husband’s alleged abusive behaviour and established herself in a new community.
“I worked through our judicial system to ensure both the safety and security for myself and my children even though, as a mother, I was always terrified that this nightmare would come true” said Alison.
A nightmare Alison says began on August 14th. When Azer failed to return home from a trip to the Middle East with the children, Alison notified the RCMP.
“Since receiving initial details about this situation on August 15th, 2015, investigators from the Comox Valley RCMP, supported by Provincial and Federal RCMP officers in Canada and abroad, have completed a great deal of investigative work aimed at locating the children involved,” said RCMP Cpl Darren Lagan. “This work has included extensive communication with international law enforcement partners and INTERPOL, obtaining and executing a search warrant in the Comox Valley, as well as taking steps to restrict further international travel by the father and children.”
Azer, a Kurdish Canadian whose real name is Salahaddin Mahmudi-Azer, is now wanted on a Canada-wide warrant which was obtained by the Comox Valley RCMP. He is wanted in relation to charges of 'Abduction in Contravention of a Custody Order', contrary to Section 282 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
“We understand how difficult this situation is for the children’s mother and others in the community,” added Lagan. “The safety and security of Canadian children, both at home and abroad, is of the utmost importance to the RCMP, and we will continue our efforts to locate and safely return these children to British Columbia.”
Alison, who says she works in the non-profit sector, is now hoping to raise funds through an online fundraising campaign to offset the expenses that will be incurred to find and bring home her children. In just over one day she has so far raised more than $25,000 for the search and recovery of her children.
INTERPOL has listed the children as missing on their website saying they have not been seen since August 6th, 2015.
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