By Peter Townson
Schoolchildren from Bahrain have released hundreds of balloons and recorded messages of support for their friend Adam Jones, who they want to see returned to his family home in Bahrain as soon as possible.
Adam is in Qatar after a court last week ruled in favour of his 77-year-old Qatari grandmother in a custody case against his mother, Rebecca Jones, who has vowed to stay in Qatar until she is reunited with her son.
After travelling to Qatar on October 3, Rebecca claims that she was duped into signing legal documents and deceived as members of her late husband’s family “kidnapped” her son.
She launched a “kidnap” case with the Qatari authorities, but was distraught when she found herself at a court hearing which awarded full custody of her son to his grandmother.
And since the date she claimed her son was “kidnapped” – October 5 - she has not had any contact with 10-year-old Adam, who suffers from dyspraxia (a disorder that affects motor skill development).
Schoolmates from St. Christopher’s Junior School in Saar have been expressing their wishes to see their friend returned to his family and friends in Bahrain, with parents at the school also wearing T-shirts and yellow ribbons to raise the profile of the campaign.
Rebecca said that although she was still understandably devastated by recent events, the pictures reaching her from Bahrain were “wonderful to see” and “something that Adam would really love.”
She has also reiterated her pledge to remain in Qatar until she is reunited with Adam, expressing her fears of being denied re-entry into Qatar if she leaves beforehand: “That would be my worst nightmare and although it is putting severe financial strain on my family, leaving would seem like giving up the fight - which I will never do.”
“It has been amazing that so many people have supported us and just knowing that we’re not on our own has made the fight that little bit easier,” she said, adding “it gives us some hope to see people organising events like this and it gives me the strength to keep on fighting for my little boy.”
“It’s heart-wrenching, but we’ve got to keep on fighting. I dream of the day when I can get on a plane from Qatar and bring my son home,” added the British mother, who also expressed her thanks to the international community for their support of a Facebook group, ‘Return Adam to his family in Bahrain,’ which now consists of more than 4,000 members.
Rebecca has also been supported by the Bahraini authorities, with the general secretary of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS), Faisal Fulad travelling to Qatar for the hearing last week, and expressing his continued support for Rebecca’s quest to be reunited with Adam.
He described the events at Adam’s school as “amazing” and said that seeing pictures of the support from Bahrain would offer valuable motivation to continue their legal fight to get Adam home.
“It sends out a message to send Adam home, which the BHRWS fully supports,” he said. |
