Indefinitely

Dates

2021 - 2023
Author

Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin
Location Egypt, Egypt
Recognition

6 Free Portfolio reviews - PhMuseum 2023 Photography Grant

The latest official statistics from the government reveal that Egypt witnesses up to three kidnappings per day on average. In 2012 Two children were kidnapped per day for ransom, and the number increased to Five per day in 2013. Child Helpline statistics reveal that more than 2,264 children got kidnapped In 2018 and 2019.

Indefinitely documents the lives of the families of kidnapped children through a map. The map’s starting point is forty years ago, with a family still searching for their daughter, leading to other families' stories following the 2011 revolution and including various reasons for abduction. In the wake of the 2011 revolution, no measures were taken to handle the problem and limit its continuity, starting with the problem of the Egyptian birth certificate, which can be easily forged, no forensic age progression, and the lack of a unified database for information missing children.

Hope remains the only thing left for bereaved families after they are mentally and financially exhausted from the long journey of searching for their children in all the governorates of Egypt. After the investigations did not find any information and all their attempts failed, they fell prey to fraud and exploitation to know any information about their children. Even when they obtained information about the whereabouts of their children and a picture of the kidnapper, the families could not catch them because they continued to escape from one governorate to another or couldn't prove the accusation against them.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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Rehab's mother holds her daughter's birth certificate. In 1982, Rehab, six years old, went out with her sister Iman, five years old, to buy sweets from a small shop directly beside their house. After a short while, Iman preceded her sister to the home, but Rehab did not return. The father was not able to file a report to the police until 48 hours later, and the journey started, searching in the streets, hospitals, and the morgue, printing her pictures as posters and distributing it to passers-by, and publishing her photo in the newspapers. During their search, a child who lives in the same street told them he saw Rahab riding a white Peugeot car, and when he asked her where are you going, she told him this man was going with her father's friend, who would take it to see her father. The police didn't find any information, and the parents had to continue searching alone. The father worked as a driver, but he had to sell his car to have money to pay for searching and advertising costs. It has been forty years since Rehab disappeared, but her parents still hope she is alive somewhere.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - A picture of Rehab (Fatma in the birth certificate), six years old.

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A picture of Rehab (Fatma in the birth certificate), six years old.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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"Sometimes I say, God, I hope to die so that I know where my daughter is and what happened to her." Awatef, the mother, 69 years old, in Al Wardeyan, Alexandria.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Mohamed, the father, 75 years old, in Al Wardeyan, Alexandria.

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Mohamed, the father, 75 years old, in Al Wardeyan, Alexandria.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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A picture of Rehab's recent birth certificate that was issued in 2007. The birth certificate has not changed since 1982. The birth certificate must contain a footprint to protect the child from kidnapping, exploitation in beggary work, or child exchange. The absence of footprints and pictures of the parents are loopholes that are the reason for numerous crimes against children. The parents called her Rehab, but Fatma is her real name in the birth certificate. The family regrets calling her a different name than her real one because she didn't know her real name, so they think that even if somebody had found her he wouldn't have been able to know her real family.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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An age progression picture of Rehab after forty years, as she is now 46 years old, by a British forensic artist named Tim Widden. " I'm afraid I wouldn't know her if I saw her in the street." Said Rehab's mother. The purpose of an age progression is to show the public an approximation of what a missing child might look like as time passes, hoping that someone will recognize them now. So far, there is no forensic imaging unit for age progression in Egypt. It is difficult to make an age progression for a child, and The cost to make one abroad is around 450 to 1k dollars, equivalent to 13,500 to 30,000 Egyptian pound. The kidnappers take advantage of the fact that a child’s face is going to grow and develop, therefore that original photo that people work off would be an outdated-in effect, an inaccurate portrayal of what the child looks like today.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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The street where Ahmed Jamal  got kidnapped. In 2012 Ahmed, Ten years old, was playing with his friends in the street in front of his house, then he suddenly disappeared. The family was forced to wait 48 hours to file a report. An unknown person called after two days, asking for a ransom of 20 thousand pounds in exchange for his return. The family asked the police to help them and managed to collect the money with the help of their neighbors to pay the ransom. When the kidnappers found out that he had contacted the police, and told Ahmed's father that they would kill his son and that he would receive his body. His family still does not know where he is now.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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"I desperately hope to know if he is alive or passed away, and if he passed away, I want to bury him, I just want to know the truth." The mother of Ahmed sits in the bedroom of her home in Warraq, Giza. She developed heart disease after Ahmed was kidnapped, and left her work. The family couldn't pay the rent and had to move to a smaller apartment after living in the same apartment for fifteen years.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - A picture of Ahmed Jamal , Ten years old, hangs in front of his mother's bed.

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A picture of Ahmed Jamal , Ten years old, hangs in front of his mother's bed.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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The mother of Ahmed holds her youngest son's hands in the street where Ahmed got kidnapped. Muhammad, the youngest son, was born after Ahmed's abduction, and he never goes out to play in the street like the rest of the children in their neighborhood.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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A picture of Hala Gamal, eight years old, hangs on the wall at her mother's workplace in Saft El Laban, Giza. In 2016 when the mother was preparing lunch, Hala went outside with a plastic bag and two pounds to collect her toys from the street so that the street cleaner would not come and take them with the trash. Within minutes she disappeared, and her family found the plastic full of toys and the two pounds a few steps away from their home.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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The mother of Hala holds pictures of the security footage that shows Hala with the kidnapper who forces her to beg in the streets. Two and a half years later, during their search in El-Mokattam, Cairo;A saleswoman who worked in a toy store told the family that she saw Hala with a woman begging in this area regularly and recognized her easily because she was always shy and scared when she entered the store to beg for money. The family checked the security cameras outside the store and found Hala with the kidnapper in the video, they printed the pictures of the kidnapper and informed the police, but they didn't find any trace of her. The family tried to follow the kidnapper and found more information and many witnesses, But every time they got close to her, she disappeared again.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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On the left, Heba, who is only one year younger than Hala, stands next to Sarah, the oldest sister in Saft El Laban, Giza. On the right, Hala’s dress hangs at the same place where she was kidnapped.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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Fatma, The mother of Hala, went from morning till evening to the toy store, where they found her daughter's picture in the security footage. She tried to disguise herself, and sit in front of the store among street vendors and beggars, hoping to see Hala again and save her.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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An age progression picture of Hala, as she is now 15 years old, by a British forensic artist named Tim Widden. On the left, a picture of Hala's school homework which she wrote 6 days before her abduction.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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A picture of Ruqayyah, seven years and a half. In 2018 Ruqayyah disappeared after she went out to buy sweets only a few steps from her home. Five months later, they found a witness who told them that he had seen her in a tuk-tuk with a woman, He gave a full description of Ruqayya and the kidnapper. Ruqayya's disappearance coincided with the disappearance of a beggar named khafifa, who was always near their house. Nine months later, they knew the location of the kidnapper and managed to catch her. She confessed to kidnapping the girl and selling her for 5000 pounds (294 dollars) to a family, and after handing her over to the police, she kept giving false information about the whereabouts of the family and then retracted her statement. Although there were numerous witnesses who saw Ruqayyah with her, the police released her after 40 days for lack of evidence. Ruqayya's family still does not know where she is.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Manal, Ruqayya's mother, stands in the street where Ruqaiya used to play with her friends.

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Manal, Ruqayya's mother, stands in the street where Ruqaiya used to play with her friends.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - El Sayed, Ruqayya's Father.

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El Sayed, Ruqayya's Father.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Image from the Indefinitely photography project

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An age progression picture of Ruqayya, as she is now 11 years old, by a British forensic artist named Tim Widden. On the left, a picture of Hala's handwriting under the dining table. She wrote her name, and the names of her mother, her father, her grandfather, and her grandmother.

© Lamees Saleh Sharaf Eldin - Ruqayya's favorite Toy.

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Ruqayya's favorite Toy.