Refugee Mom Seeks Reunion With Son

By David Snyder

The Lebanese town of Reyfoun rests in the hills north of Beirut, amid the pine trees and chilly air of the mountains. It is quiet here, and peaceful—a far cry from the pasts the people at the Reyfoun shelter are running from.

Among them is Imane Hamdi, a refugee from Iraq who calls Reyfoun home, for now. Alone in Lebanon, she recounts the details of her journey with a calm that belies the trauma of her recent past.

"We left [Iraq] first in 2006 because of the situation," Imane says. "Then my son was kidnapped [by] terrorists."

A widow, Imane was alone in her fear. Terrified for her son, she fled with her younger boy to Syria. Though her son was eventually released by the kidnappers, the chaos of Iraq in 2006 prevented Imane from finding him before, amazingly, he was kidnapped again. This time, he would not return.

Unemployed and traumatized, Imane eventually fled Syria for Lebanon with her younger son, crossing the border illegally in the hopes of finding some form of work in Lebanon. Though registered with the United Nations, Lebanon is not a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, and Imane learned that she and her son had no legal rights in Lebanon. Things were no better here than they had been in Syria.

"I had a lot of economic problems because I wasn't working," Imane says.

Fortunately, she had a cousin living in southern Lebanon with whom she and her son could live. But money was still not available, and when her son fled for Greece, where he was arrested for entering the country illegally, Imane felt she had lost her family entirely.

'Everything We Need is Here'

It was then that the United Nations referred her to the Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center, which is supported by Catholic Relief Services. Through the center, Imane was sent north to the Reyfoun shelter—her last hope for assistance. A former convent used as a migrant center by Caritas since 2006, the Reyfoun shelter provides all manner of care and support to migrant and refugee families adrift inside Lebanon. All are extreme cases: those abandoned like Imane, or others who face domestic abuse from family members. No matter their problems, the Reyfoun shelter provides everything the residents need, from trauma counseling to legal assistance and support. All food and accommodation is also free. For those like Imane who find themselves here, it is the first safe haven they have experienced in years.

"I am relaxed," Imane says. "Everything we need is here, and I like the staff."

Reassured by the help she receives at the Reyfoun shelter, Imane can turn her full attention to her main goal—reuniting with her son and resettling someplace safe and secure, a common theme among Lebanon's refugee population. Through the United Nations, Imane hopes to settle eventually in the United States, but sitting with the Caritas social workers on a couch in the shelter, she offers a sentiment any mother would understand.

"My only goal is to be reunited with my son in the same country," Imane says. "I don't care about anything else."

David Snyder is a photojournalist who has traveled to more than 30 countries with CRS.