![\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/4770419_2_articleinlinemobile_Mandy_20Kelly_27s_20Kids_20Were_20Kidnapped_20By_20Their_20Dad...3.jpg\" "\\"")
Mandy Kelly’s husband, Ramy Gamal Maamoun Mohamed,\u00a0abducted their children Zayn and Kareem in 2022 during a family holiday in Egypt, days after this photo was taken. Picture: Ciara Wilkinson<\/p>\nMandy Kelly from Co Louth has not seen her two sons since March 2022 after her estranged husband locked her in an apartment during a visit to see his mother and removed the boys from her care.<\/p>\n
Since then, Ms Kelly has launched a High Court case here and in the Egyptian courts \u2014 both ruled that the children should be returned to her care. However, authorities in Cairo have told her that the children and their father cannot be located.<\/p>\n
Now, in a letter to Ms Kelly, justice minister Jim O\u2019Callaghan said his department is engaging with the Department of Foreign Affairs on the issue of a bilateral agreement on child abduction between Egypt and Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mandy Kelly’s husband, Ramy Gamal Maamoun Mohamed,\u00a0abducted their children Zayn and Kareem in 2022 during a family holiday in Egypt, days after this photo was taken. Picture: Ciara Wilkinson<\/p>\n
“As that engagement is ongoing, it is not possible to advise of an outcome at this point,” he stated.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also said the Taoiseach and T\u00e1naiste have regularly raised Ms Kelly\u2019s case in meetings with their counterparts in Egypt, most recently in a bilateral meeting between the T\u00e1naiste and Egyptian foreign minister at the annual Munich security conference. Mr O’Callaghan said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n The T\u00e1naiste also wrote to his Egyptian counterpart in April 2025. Your case was also raised during the visit of President [Abdel Fattah] El-Sisi to Ireland in December 2024.\n <\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Callaghan said he has no power over Interpol notices and European arrest warrants, which are matters for the garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n
Ms Kelly said she is \u201cvery grateful\u201d for the support of the Irish government but to date she has received no verified details regarding her children\u2019s \u201clocation, welfare, education, or health\u201d.<\/p>\n
Her children, Zayn aged 7 and Kareem aged 4 who were born here, were taken by their Egyptian father Ramy Gamal Maamoun Mohamed during a family holiday in March 2022 in Cairo.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had it all planned, and I had no idea he was going to do this,\u201d said Ms Kelly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n He locked me into an apartment, and the kids were taken away. I haven\u2019t seen them since.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
Authorities in Egypt have claimed her estranged husband \u201cremains unlocatable\u201d according to Ms Kelly, while her mother-in-law has appealed the decision of the family court in Cairo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know nothing about my children, I don\u2019t know if they are in school, if they are well, I don\u2019t know anything\u201d she said. \u201cKareem is due to start school now\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Kelly met with Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy on August 6 to discuss her case. At that meeting, which was also attended by the consular director,\u00a0she asked the Government to:<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cWhile I have pursued every available legal remedy, I have also made genuine efforts to resolve this crisis through non-legal means\u2014including mediation requests with Reunite, diplomatic engagement through the Department of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Irish embassy in Cairo and the Egyptian Good Intentions Committee, but still, my children remain beyond reach.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Mandy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/4770350_6_articleinlinemobile_MANDY_20KELLY_20_17.jpg\" "\\"Mandy")
Mandy Kelly: ‘I know nothing about my children, I don\u2019t know if they are in school, if they are well, I don\u2019t know anything.’ \tFile\u00a0picture: Gareth Chaney<\/p>\n
A personal commitment from the Egyptian president was also given to the T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris on December 11, 2024, but Ms Kelly said \u201cthat promise remains unfulfilled\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a human rights issue. Two Irish children remain unlawfully detained abroad despite final custody orders from both Irish and Egyptian courts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has also been a complete information blackout, I have received no verified details regarding my children\u2019s location, welfare, education, or health.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have exhausted all channels. Legal proceedings, diplomatic appeals, community mediation, and faith-based outreach have all been pursued in good faith,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n