A mother has revealed that her Egyptian husband kept her prisoner in his country for a week and that she still has her two children, whom she has not seen since 2022. and claims that he wants 500,000 euros to return the two children.
Mandy Kelly, 37, from County Monaghan, met Ramy Gamal when she was 27 and living in Dubai.
He had moved to the country four years earlier, seeking professional opportunities, after the 2008 crisis meant there were few jobs available locally.
According to Ms Kelly, she loved the “challenge” of her teaching job in Dubai and also enjoyed the lifestyle, which she described to the Irish independent as “surprising.”
After meeting Gamal, an Egyptian banker who was also working in Dubai on a night out, Kelly initially found him “charming…polite, intelligent.”
Mandy Kelly, 37, from County Monaghan (pictured) has spent more than two years fighting to get her children back from her ex-husband who took them to Egypt.
However, he now says his friendly exterior was an “act.”
The two began a relationship, and Kelly even traveled to Egypt to meet Gamal’s family.
And although his family was Muslim and hers was Catholic, she says religion was never an issue for them and he didn’t expect her to convert.
After dating for four years, and having visited each other’s home country and met each other’s family, the couple decided to get married.
According to Kelly, her plan had always been to return to Ireland, something she says she had made very clear throughout her relationship with Gamal.
After getting married in Ireland in July 2017, the couple rented a house on the outskirts of Dublin.
They both found work: Mrs. Kelly worked as an educational administrator and Gamal as a customer service agent.
It was after the birth of their first son, Zayn, in May 2019, that “cracks started to appear” in the marriage.
FAMILY: Mandy Kelly is pictured with her two sons Zayn and Kareem, before the three were separated by her ex-husband.
Ms. Kelly told the outlet that she felt isolated and that her husband had begun to “devalue and ignore her.” However, at that time, she didn’t pay much attention to it, assuming that all marriages had her problems.
Additionally, she was very busy with work and childcare, as she had not returned to work in Ireland long enough to use all her maternity benefits, so she had to return to work when her baby was only six. weeks.
In a bid to ease financial pressure on the family, Mrs Kelly pursued a postgraduate diploma in executive management, hoping to improve her employment opportunities.
At the time, she says, her husband was working and out of work, and she felt pressured to keep everything in order.
Kelly, who describes herself as “the breadwinner,” said she paid rent and childcare and, in retrospect, believes Gamal resented her for it.
As a result, he became increasingly isolated, never socialized, and had work as his only outlet.
In November 2020, they had their second child, another son they named Kareem.
Being able to take paid maternity leave relieved some of the couple’s financial strain and things seemed to be looking up. She even bought a family home in Dundalk, Co Lout, and she felt lucky to have two healthy children.
However, Gamal’s resentment worsened and his expectations of life in Ireland fell short of reality, in Ms Kelly’s view.
She said her husband constantly complained that she was not there for him and she couldn’t believe how hard people worked in Ireland.
On top of that, he seemed resentful of her career success, despite expecting her to make money and take care of his children.
Looking back, he says, he knows his colleagues knew “something wasn’t quite right.” Mrs. Kelly was very depressed and her confidence was gone.
The following July, Gamal decided that the family should travel to Egypt so the children could meet their mother and siblings, a trip that Kelly supported, since her mother-in-law had not yet met the babies.
Due to delays in processing the children’s passports, and because of Covid, it was not until the following year, in February 2022, that they were able to travel to Egypt.
Kelly had no reason to suspect anything was wrong: Before the holidays, her husband had renewed his visa and discussed his plans to become an Irish citizen. She also visited the school her son Zayn was due to start later that year.
However, once the family arrived in Egypt, some things seemed a little strange.
Instead of staying in a hotel, Gamal insisted on renting an apartment, which Kelly describes as part of his plan to isolate her.
He also did not give him an Egyptian SIM card, which would have made it easier to contact people, further isolating his wife, who spent a lot of time alone.
It was not until the day before his return to Ireland that Gamal revealed that he would not be returning and that he did not want the children to return to Ireland either.
Horrified by what she was hearing, Kelly suggested they take a walk and calm down, which they did. But upon returning to the apartment, Gamal left with the children.
When he returned later, he allegedly locked Ms Kelly in the apartment for a week.
He then began making demands, telling her that if she wanted to see her children, she would have to sell the family home in Ireland.
Over the course of the week, Gamal returned to the apartment, where Kelly tried to convince him to let her and the children return to Ireland.
She said: ‘I was a prisoner and he had the children. I kept praying… I managed to contact the Irish consular service in Cairo and the Department of Foreign Affairs, neither person did anything for me.
‘I knew they weren’t going to help me. I knew I was alone. I knew I was in danger and that I had to leave Egypt if I had any chance of getting my children back.
Kelly managed to get to the airport, where she called her husband and asked him to bring the children, whom she would take home.
But she waited for hours and he never arrived, leaving her to fly home alone, where she would continue fighting to get the children back.
Describing herself as distraught and in shock, she landed in Ireland on March 17, 2022.
Despite feeling so desperate, Kelly’s mother assured her that since she was safe, she could do everything she could to get the children home.
Since then, she has continued the fight to reunite with Zayn and Kareem, even obtaining a High Court order calling for her immediate return in December 2022.
Unfortunately, as the court has no authority over Egyptian courts, it was unsuccessful.
Furthermore, Egypt has not signed the 1980 Hague Convention. This initiative, which uses diplomatic pressure to ensure the prompt return of the child, aims to protect children from international abduction by a parent.
But according to the mother of two, she doesn’t even know how her children are doing as her husband hasn’t contacted her.
In another attempt to save the children, Mrs Kelly went to Dundalk police station where she reported that her children had been kidnapped. A case file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
And Ms Kelly has been in contact with the Irish government for the past two years, begging them to help her with her case.
According to Mandy (pictured with her two children), Gamal has asked for 500,000 euros to return the two children.
He was able to deliver a letter outlining the situation to Taoiseach Simon Harris during a recent event in Monaghan.
Harris wrote a response promising to help M. Kelly get her children back.
His letter said: ‘I would like to express my deepest condolences for the hardships you and your family have been forced to endure over the past two years. I want to reassure you that the Government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice, remains committed to helping you to the fullest extent possible.’
Harris added that she wants to help her reunite with Zayn and Kareem as soon as possible.
According to Mrs Kelly, he has spent around €35,000 in legal fees trying to get his children back, and claims he wants €500,000 to return the two children.