African migrant reunited with daughter she saved from genital mutilation

Lampedusa (Italy) March 27 (IANS/AKI) A 32-year-old African was reunited with her four-year-old daughter on Monday after sending her to Europe aboard a migrant boat last year allegedly to save her from female genital mutilation in her homeland.

Zanabou Camara from Ivory Coast had a tearful reunion with her daughter Oumoh at Palermo airport where she arrived on a flight from Tunisia.

Camara described her reunion with Oumoh as a miracle and said she would have done anything to get her daughter back.

I would have gone to the end of the earth to find my daughter. Being without her caused me enormous suffering she told reporters.

It is a miracle to see her again Camara said describing how she entrusted Oumoh to friend who crossed the Mediterranean with the child aboard a migrant boat from Tunisia to Lampedusa.

Camara made the tough decision because Oumoh was at risk of being infibulated in Ivory Coast along with her 12-year-old cousin she said.

Bureaucratic delays left Camara stranded in Tunisia for five months during which time she said she only had contact with Oumoh a few times on Skype.

Maria Volpe the police officer who liaised with the Ivorian embassy to obtain Camara s visa and has had responsibility for Oumoh since her arrival in Italy said the reunion was the biggest gift I could ever have.

Camara will be granted formal custody of Oumoh when their relationship is confirmed by a DNA test.

She and Oumoh will meanwhile be assisted by a psychologist and workers from a Catholic charity and given shelter in the same community in Palermo where Oumoh has been living since her arrival from Lampedusa.

--IANS/AKI
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