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Will Canada save our adopted sister, Kholoud, from war torn Sudan?
When you care about someone you do everything to help them when they are in need but when their life is in grave danger you will need to do something out of the ordinary to save them. It is for this reason, I plan to be outside the Canadian High Commission in Trafalgar Square in London, UK on Friday the 9th of June at 10am to beg the Canadian Government to intervene and save our adopted sister Kholoud and her family from war torn Khartoum, Sudan.
My name is Sami Atabani, and I am a Sudanese/Canadian citizen residing in the UK. I am writing on behalf my family (we are all Sudanese and Canadian citizens) to request your support in applying pressure on the Canadian government to evacuate our adopted sister Kholoud from war-torn Khartoum, in Sudan. War broke out in the capital Khartoum on the 15th of April 2023 as a result of the dispute between two army generals and has resulted in the displacement of over two million people within days. War and destruction continues in the capital Khartoum 8 weeks on with no hope for peace.
My sister Kholoud was born very prematurely on the 8th of June 1979 in Khartoum, to parents from the Darfur region of Sudan. Kholoud’s mother died from childbirth complications five days after giving birth. Kholoud’s father was an employee of my dad who was the CEO of the Sudanese Kuwaiti Agricultural Investment Company, managing large agricultural and infrastructure projects in Sudan. My parents went to visit the little girl and her father in the hospital upon hearing the tragic news and offered their support during that difficult time. Kholoud’s father mentioned that he was unable to look after Kholoud, and that he would have no choice but to place her in an orphanage so she can be looked after. It was at this point that my mum whispered in my dad’s ear, that the tiny black girl weighing under a kilo wouldn’t survive in the orphanage, and that they should give her a chance in life, by offering to look after her for a few days until perhaps her father’s relatives would arrive from Darfur to Khartoum to support him and his new born daughter. Kholoud joined our family when she was six days old, and has been raised as our sister since.
However, due to very complex adoption laws in Sudan, which do not allow full adoption if there is a surviving parent, Kholoud could not be legally adopted by my parents. As an alternative, they agreed with Kholoud’s father that they would become her legal guardians and that she would continue to live with us as our sister. My parents insisted on arranging for a legal self-declaration letter by Kholoud’s father stating that Kholoud live with us permanently and that our family are fully responsible for her welfare and that she is to be raised as our sister. Kholoud lived with us all her life until she married at the age of 20 in Sudan in 1999 shortly before my parents, Dr Yousif Atabani and Mrs Nadia Dacroub, moved to Toronto, where they became Canadian citizens. Kholoud, is now a dedicated single mum having divorced her husband in 2013 after discovering that her husband was cheating on her.
Our dad died in Kholoud’s arms in June 2021 while on holiday in Sudan to visit her. Our mother, Nadia Dacroub, who is a frail 91 year old, is extremely worried for the safety of Kholoud and her family in Khartoum as the situation continues to deteriorate. We are extremely concerned for Kholoud’s wellbeing due to her ethnic background, being from Darfur, where individuals are regularly targeted by the army and militia in Sudan and are subjected to rape and torture.
Today is Kholoud’s 44th birthday but unlike the picture below where she is celebrating her 4th birthday surrounded by all of us, we are unable to hug and reassure her that she and her family will be safe as she remains stranded in Khartoum with war raging around her.
We are now faced with the difficult situation of trying to secure a safe passage out of Sudan for Kholoud and her family who are all Sudanese citizens. We are appealing to the Canadian government to grant them any legal status in Canada as a matter of urgency to enable us to bring them to safety in Canada. We have requested an urgent review by the Canadian government of Kholoud and her family’s case on humanitarian grounds so our family can finally be reunited. To date all of our appeals have been completely ignored.
Please feel free to join me outside the Consular section of the Canadian High Commission in Trafalgar Square, London (Cockspur Street) where I will be standing by the entrance. I thank you for your support during this difficult time that my family and I are facing together with millions of other Sudanese as a result of the selfish actions of two criminal warlords.
Sami Atabani
#KeepEyesOnSudan #Sudan @RalphGoodale @CitImmCanada @JustinTrudeau @SeanFraserMP
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