An Eritrean woman who feared she would never see her Ethiopian husband again is in Malta anxiously waiting to be reunited with him after six years.

The woman is pinning her hopes on the efforts of the Emigrants Commission which had been alerted about the case by her husband – who has spent years looking for his wife.

Helen Amare Tekelehajmanot and Elias Redeat Asefa had come to Malta separately seeking asylum from their war-torn countries. They became acquainted with each other as refugees in Malta and got married in May 2008.

A few months later they travelled to Spain and in December of that year the couple went to Guatemala.

We are hoping that this couple will be reunited in the United States soon

On arrival they were questioned separately at the airport by the Guatemalan border control officials who said that their travelling documents were not recognised.

While her husband was put in detention for six weeks his wife was immediately deported to Spain. Meanwhile he tried to enquire what had happened to her, but was given no information by the Guatemalan authorities.

On his arrival back in Spain, he sought the help of the Eritrean and Ethiopian communities in Barcelona and Guatemala, as well as the Spanish Red Cross. After six months roaming around he returned to Malta in June 2009 and contacted the Emigrants Commission which wrote to the church authorities in Guatemala for help. However no reply was ever received.

Having heard nothing from his wife for over two years, the man departed to the United States through a resettlement programme in June 2011.

An unexpected twist of events took place last June, when the Ethiopian managed to locate his wife through Facebook, from his house in San Diego

He immediately contacted the Emigrants Commission which had been monitoring the case for years, and luckily through the assistance of Glen Cachia from the Red Cross, who happened to be in Spain, his wife was located within hours.

The commission immediately contacted the Maltese Embassy in Madrid and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, to issue temporary travel documents for the Eritrean woman, to be able to come to Malta.

Helen was back in Malta last Wednesday, and is now hoping to be able to join her husband but not after clearing the last hurdle.

Mgr Philip Calleja, head of the Emigrants Commission explained that much would depend by the US Embassy to grant her a visa as well as the UNHCR which is the entity that recommends refugees for the resettlement programme.

“We are hoping that this couple who have been separated for such a long time will be reunited in the United States soon,” he said.