Local Mother and Daughter Reunited After 23-Year Long Kidnapping Ordeal When Etta Fletcher last saw her daughter, Samia Shenshen, she was only 9 years old. Now, Samia, 31, along with her four Libyan-born children, are spending the first month in her birth country in more than 23 years. Samia and her older sister, Nadia, were kidnapped and brought to the north African nation of Libya in 1991 by their father, where they spent the next two decades. Speaking with a clear American accent, but sometimes struggling to remember English words, Samia and her mother arrived at the WJBD Studios on Thursday. Samia recalled leaving for Libya, unsure if she would ever see her mother again. It was very shocking, and I was very disappointed about my dad taking us away from my mom Shenshen said, He promised he was going to take us back, but while we were travelling in the airplane he told us We were never going to go back there. So we arrived in Libya disappointed. Samia and her sister lived with their abusive father and his new wife in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, for ten years. She went to a Libyan school, became fluent in Arabic, converted to Islam, and began learning computer engineering. She nearly graduated, but after 10 years of violent, relentless abuse from her father, she decided, when she was 20 years old and on the day of her final tests at school, to flee to Egypt. I escaped from my father before I got married because I was abused. I had to run away to Egypt and stay with another family until things settled down, and then I stayed with my sister and her [now] ex-husband in Tawergha, until I got married Shenshen told WJBD. Shenshen married a Libyan man from the city of Tawergha, obtained her American Citizenship papers from the American Embassy in Jordan, and had four children including Saad, the oldest at 7 years old, 4 year old Zacia, 3 year old Aisha and 2 year old Roudina. Shenshens four childrens lives have been marred by violence and strife. Her family was captured in 2011 during the Libyan Civil War, when rebels fighting against former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi took over Tawergha and began an ethnic cleansing campaign against the ethnic minority that lived in Tawergha. Huddled inside the Mosque, Shenshen and her family managed to escape from the rebels after informing the nearby foreign media of Shenshens American Citizenship. The family then fled to the European island nation of Malta, where Shenshen was able to double down on her efforts to find her mother, which she began when she got married. I got a call from a very nice lady at the American Embassy in Malta, and she said Were trying to send Samia home... with all these kids and I think OK, the way she said it, its going to be months and months. That monday, I get an email saying Heres their itinerary, pick them up tomorrow Fletcher recalled. They arrived at the end of September. Fletcher had spend 23 years wondering what had happened to her daughters. To cope, she poured her love and support into her two, older, American-raised sons. Ive missed a lot. I didnt know if they were alive, I didnt know what was going on...I didnt know anything until ten years ago when I got a letter from a lady at Vital Statistics telling me that [Samia] was looking for me said Fletcher. Samias sister Nadia still remains in the Libyan city of Misrata. They hope to bring her to the United States as well and help her escape the ongoing civil war. As for the future, Samia is planning on staying in the US and bringing her husband, who is still in Malta, stateside. She hopes to return to school and become an Arabic-English interpreter and send her kids to local grade schools. After 23 years, Samia may be able to live the American Dream she was promised from birth, and give her kids a future and opportunities they never would have had in Libya. The most wonderful gift of all, however, may be for Fletcher, who finally has her daughter back after 23 years of heartbreak.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 23:52:22 +0000
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