'I Only Want to Take My Daughter Home'

Europe - Their nightmare trip across the sea lasted 20 hours: German mother Tina R. fled Tunisia with her young daughter on a crowded refugee boat, before eventually arriving safely in Italy. Her ex-husband, a doctor from Djerba, had refused to let go of the girl -- forcing the 40-year-old to put their lives in the hands of human traffickers. The refugees arrived in Lampedusa in three boats in the early hours of Monday. The small fishing vessels were hopelessly overloaded as they made their way from Tunisia to Italy. Only two of the boats made it safely to the promised land of Europe under their own power -- the third was in danger of sinking when it reached Italian territorial waters, and the Coast Guard had to help dozens of people reach land... Tina R. had to pay the smugglers 4,000 dinar (around €2,000) for the trip to get herself and her daughter across the Mediterannean, she added. A total of 110 people were crowded onto their boat. With difficulty, she had pressed her daughter Amira Jasmine and their luggage against herself, simply hoping to survive the 20-hour crossing. "It was indescribable," said R., "yet, for me, it was not the worst moment of the past four years."... The 40-year-old said she had been trying for four years to get her daughter back from her ex-husband, a Tunisian doctor on the island of Djerba. The couple separated in 2007 -- according to R., alleging she had been beaten by the man. "The divorce is final, I was awarded custody of the child, even in Tunisia," R. said Nonetheless, she was not able to bring her daughter back to Germany. Again and again, she went to Tunisia, and even hired a lawyer in Tunis -- without success. "It was absurd that the law was on my side, but I could not enforce it." Full Story>>

German Flees Tunisia on Refugee Boat to Escape Ex-Husband http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,749876,00.html