South Sudan: Abducted children reunited with parents after more than a year apart

Emmanuel (4), Monika (6) and Victor (12) were abducted from their village in South Sudan on the 28 August 2016.

“The children were taken around 7pm. That is when we normally sit around the fire place at night. After some time, we heard a neighbour crying ‘My children, my children…’ then out of nowhere someone came and started beating my husband. Emmanuel was there, he cried and said ‘baba, baba’… when the guy saw the child, he grabbed him and ran away," Emmanuel’s mother, Rosa, explains.

In a few minutes, these parents will see their children for the first time in one and a half years.

Rosa and Lawrence (left) will see their son, Emmanuel. Frederiko will see his two children, Monika and Victor.

“We thank God that our children are coming back. We never thought it would happen.”

The families are reunited with the ICRC’s assistance.

The ICRC helps families separated by conflict and other situations of violence to reconnect. It registers the relatives and traces their loved ones, wherever they may be in or outside the country.

The ICRC always ensures that the family members are willing to be reunited and that it is in the best interest of all involved.

Monika (6) and Victor (12) lost their mother when they were abducted.

“After the children were taken, Federiko’s wife was constantly crying. She was very worried as she was also pregnant. She did not sleep nor eat and lost a lot of weight. She was left so weak she could not deliver her baby. She died together with the unborn baby," Rose explains.

Federiko should have been a father of seven, but only five children remain.

“When my wife passed away, it left me with an additional burden to take care of the rest of the family. When I heard that someone found my children, I started rewinding in my mind. I did not think that they were alive. Now that they are back, they can give me a source of joy.”

The parents are waiting at the ICRC office in Juba while the children are transported by an ICRC helicopter from another part of the country.

“I remember when I used to return home, Emmanuel always used to greet me. He used to say, ‘Mama is here’. Since he went missing, no one has done this… I used to give him small presents. I think he remembers us. He will recognize me and his father.”

“I’m very happy to see my children.”

Father and son finally get to embrace.

“For the most vulnerable cases, children in particular, the ICRC organizes family reunions. Relatives express the happiness they feel to be together with their family again, after all the distress they lived with not knowing the whereabouts of their loved ones. They often tell me that their hearts can rest when they are reunited," says Celine Croon, coordinator of Restoring Family Links for the ICRC in South Sudan.

Emmanuel, Monika and Victor were abducted together with many other children from the same village. In December, another boy and girl went missing.

In 2017, the ICRC in South Sudan received 231 new cases of children in need to find their parents, and a total of 1,264 new requests for relatives looking for their families.

When the children are too young or the parents or caretakers don’t know how to read and write, the ICRC uses finger prints in the documents certifying their reunion.

“I have five children. One was born shortly before Emmanuel was taken from us. His name is Jacob (2) and when we left our village this morning to get Emmanuel, he said ‘Mama, bring back my brother’.”