The Dutch embassy in Damascus is preparing for a long stay by two children caught up in a tug-of-love saga between their estranged parents.
Tug-of-love? Oy. More like tug-of-ownership.
Ammar, 12, and Sara, 10, escaped from their Syrian father, Hisham al-Hafez, two weeks ago and took a taxi to the Dutch embassy. Ambassador Roderick van Schreven told newspaper 'De Telegraaf' that negotiations about the children's future had been hampered by the father's insistence that embassy staff kidnapped them.
"Here they come, van Sluyt! Is the net ready?"
"Hrarrr! C'mere, y'little brats! Yer goin' to the Netherlands!"
"Help! Help! We're not being kidnapped!" |
"The children walked in of their own free will and have only one wish: to return to the Netherlands," Van Schreven said.
| Oh, yeah. Likely story. How many people would rather live in the Netherlands than in Syria? |
He confirmed the children have made statements alleging their father hit them. Their Dutch mother is in the Netherlands. Van Schreven told the newspaper that there were never plans to smuggle the children out of the embassy. "This must be resolved by official channels. I am almost continuously in negotiations with the Syrian authorities and the father, but there is no opening in sight." Extra staff and other provisions, including blast shields and an inflatable pool, have being brought into the embassy to make the children's stay as comfortable as possible. |