An Australian woman and her daughter, who had been stuck in Egypt for the past three years due to a travel ban imposed by her Egyptian ex-husband on her child, have returned to Australia after the travel ban was lifted by an Egyptian court. Mazen Hassan Baioumy, who has been living in Australia ever since he moved there on a student visa, imposed the ban on his seven-year-old daughter, Zareen, in 2013. According to Mazen’s wife, 37-year-old Amaal Yasmin Finn, Mazen “tricked” her into signing documents in Arabic which she “could not read” in the belief that it would grant her Egyptian residency. Instead, the papers appeared to have handed Baioumy control over whether or not Zareen could leave the country. “Initially things were fine, but when it came time to return to Melbourne, Mazen cancelled Zareen’s ticket and told me Zareen was staying for another two months to learn Arabic and Quran properly before she started school,” wrote Amaal on Facebook in 2014. Amaal, whose two other teenage daughters from a previous marriage remained in Australia during the ordeal, faced death threats, she said, and struggled to return to Australia…
Australian Mother and Her Child Leave Egypt After a Three-Year ‘Travel Ban’ by Her Husband
March 21, 2016
