She now plans to take the Kiwi-born 13-year-old and her son back to Egypt – where there is no state support at all – because she fears for their safety here. It will also mean the end of the support she currently gets from the New Zealand Government, because she does not meet the limited exceptions to overseas payments. Other women who lost their partners face a continuing struggle to keep their livelihoods and families together. One widow says: “Sometimes I don’t say how I am doing because some people might be tired of hearing about my problems. But I definitely still need help, even just to get through the daily stuff.”
“My daughter told me, ‘Mama, if I stay here I will die’. I’m scared.” The family s decision has sparked calls for the Government to reconsider legislation that stops financial support to those who leave the country. There are limited exceptions to the rule. Raf Manji, who has spent nearly two years working with the affected community, says exceptions should be made for victims because “it’s the impact of the event making them leave” the country. Ministry of Social Development Canterbury regional commissioner Diane McDermott said while it sympathised, it was “bound by the law” around payments. El Wakil’s circumstances did not meet criteria for support to continue from abroad.
THEY ARE US
Kia kaha, kia kotahi ra. As-salaam alaikum.
Our strength is our unity. Peace be unto you.
Of all the things Haji-Daoud Nabi loved - cars, Harley Davidson motorbikes, travelling - it was his grandchildren he adored the most. On the afternoon of 15 March 2019, the engineer, who grew up in Afghanistan, was supposed to see one of them, 8-year-old Zora Nabi, at prayers at Christchurch’s Al Noor mosque, but Zora and her father, Yama Nabi, were running late. By the time they arrived at Deans Ave, 10 minutes behind schedule, a gunman had walked into the mosque and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle.
A national remembrance service has been held in New Zealand to commemorate those who died in two mosque shootings in Christchurch two weeks ago.
A man who survived the mosque attacks told a crowd of about 20,000 people on Friday that he forgives the gunman.
“I don’t want to have a heart that is boiling like a volcano,” Farid Ahmed said.
“A volcano has anger, fury, rage. It doesn’t have peace. It has hatred. It burns itself within, and also it burns the surroundings. I don’t want to have a heart like this.”
The name of Mr Ahmed’s wife, Husna Ahmed, was among the 50 read out by members of the Muslim community during a solemn part of the service.