15 Nov, 2017 @ 10:40
1 min read

African migrant mother reunited with 4-year-old son after Spanish authorities controversially kept them separated for seven months

migrant reunited
In this photo taken on taken on Nov. 13 2017 and made available by Women’s Link Worldwide, Bahoumou Totopa and her son Abdramane Aziz Cisse meet at the Spanish enclave of Melilla. An African woman has reunited with her four year-old son after they arrived in separate boats and locations in Spain, where the two were kept without contact for almost half a year until authorities could prove their family links. (AP Photo)
Photo courtesy of Associated Press

AN African migrant mother has been reunited with her four-year-old son after being kept apart for seven months as Spanish authorities wanted to confirm that they were related.

A lawyer who took their case to the European Court of Human Rights said 33-year-old Bahoumou Totopa and her son, Abdramane Aziz Cisse, met on Monday in Melilla.

The reunion came after the European court questioned the Spanish government in October for their controversial handling of the case – which saw them forbid contact between the mother and son until they confirmed they were related.

Women’s Link Worldwide Lawyer Teresa Fernandez said the reunion went smoothly even but Totopa, who is from Ivory Coast and speaks French, found it hard to communicate with her son Abdramane who is now much more fluent in Spanish.

 

“She was very nervous at first, but she’s extremely positive now,” Fernandez said about Totopa, “She says she wants to learn Spanish now as soon as possible.”

Totopa had last saw her child more than seven months ago, when he and her younger sister set off from Morocco in a rubber dinghy.

Her sister – the boy’s aunt – nearly drowned during the March trip and was taken to a hospital in Melilla by the Spanish authorities.

Abdramane was sheltered in a center for migrant children in Melilla while authorities conducted genetic tests.

Totopa had followed them in another boat in April and ended up on mainland Spain after a rescue operation.

She could not travel to Melilla, so filed documents and DNA samples to prove she was Abdramane’s mother.

Authorities in Melilla allowed them to communicate via videoconference for the first time in late October, after the European court questioned the Spanish government’s handling of the case.

The need for the European court to be involved ‘is a sign that in Spain, there is prevalent discrimination against those who are women, migrant, of African origin and in an irregular administrative situation,’ Fernandez said.

Laurence Dollimore

Laurence Dollimore is a Spanish-speaking, NCTJ-trained journalist with almost a decade’s worth of experience.
The London native has a BA in International Relations from the University of Leeds and and an MA in the same subject from Queen Mary University London.
He earned his gold star diploma in multimedia journalism at the prestigious News Associates in London in 2016, before immediately joining the Olive Press at their offices on the Costa del Sol.
After a five-year stint, Laurence returned to the UK to work as a senior reporter at the Mail Online, where he remained for two years before coming back to the Olive Press as Digital Editor in 2023.
He continues to work for the biggest newspapers in the UK, who hire him to investigate and report on stories in Spain.
These include the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Mail Online, Mail on Sunday and The Sun and Sun Online.
He has broken world exclusives on everything from the Madeleine McCann case to the anti-tourism movement in Tenerife.

GOT A STORY? Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call +34 951 273 575 Twitter: @olivepress

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

cursach
Previous Story

Tolo Cursach set to face jury for illegal rifle possession

queues gibraltar
Next Story

Spanish authorities criticised after causing THREE HOUR delays at the Gibraltar border

Latest from Lead

Go toTop

More From The Olive Press