first ever convicted for "exit trafficking", took wife on vacation to Sudan and left with her passport and visa docs [View all]
He Stole His Wife's Passport, Then Stranded Her in Sudan
Australian man is first in Victoria state to be convicted for 'exit trafficking'
In September 2014, Australian Mohamed Ahmed Omer booked a one-month family vacation from Melbourne to Sudan with his wife and two young children—except once in Sudan, he took the kids, and his wife's various forms of identification, and fled back to Australia without her, essentially stranding her in Africa. Now, the 52-year-old will spend 4 1/2 years behind bars after becoming the first person in Victoria to be found guilty of "exit trafficking," which ABC Australia defines as "a person coercing, forcing, or threatening another to leave Australia against their will."
Omer's wife, who wed him in an arranged marriage in 2010, was stranded in Sudan for 16 months, per the Guardian. After he'd taken their children and left her behind, the woman reached out to the Australian Embassy in Egypt and discovered her visa had been canceled. "It can be almost impossible for people caught in this situation to return to Australia," notes the Mercy Foundation, an Australian social justice group. "However, as Australian citizens or permanent residents, they have a right to return home." After much legal wrangling, the woman was finally able to get a temporary visa to head back Down Under in February 2016.
------
After a jury trial that stretched for a month, Omer, who'd pleaded not guilty, was convicted of exit trafficking in April. Due to time already spent behind bars while in custody, he'll be eligible for parole in three years and three months. "You treated her as a chattel that could be simply discarded," Judge Frank Gucciardo said Tuesday during Omer's sentencing hearing.
https://www.newser.com/story/359363/man-guilty-of-exit-trafficking-after-leaving-wife-in-sudan.html
The man, who is an Australian citizen, pleaded not guilty to the charge of abandoning her wife in Sudan under the guise of a holiday where she was forced to spend more than a year.
In June 2014, Omer secretly withdrew support from the visa of his then wife and made claims that she abused their two children, aged six months and two.
Three months later he took a holiday from Melbourne to Sudan with his wife and the children. Unbeknownst to his wife, he boarded a plane back to Australia with the children after stealing her passport and identity documents.
Judge Frank Gucciardo said what Omer did “required a degree of planning”.
The County Court was told that it took her more than a year to have her visa reinstated and return to Australia. She was then reunited with her children.
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/australasia/australia-victoria-jailed-sudan-exit-trafficking-b2645380.html