“When our daughters saw us at court, they started crying. My wife and I did too. We had been apart for months, and it had never happened before. It’s true, we are poor, but we had harmony at home.” Ilmi Mejdani, 42 years old and father to seven children, recalls with misty eyes and tears the difficult time he lost custody of his daughters, aged 11 and 8.

“I was sick and hospitalised for six months. In addition to diabetes, I had heart surgery and we were economically devastated. At that time, I wasn’t working and I feel terrible that my wife was forced to go out begging with the children. We had never done that before. We were poor, but we had always tried to work to support the family,” he explains.

Ilmi Mejdani and his wife Trendelina, residents of Tirana, share their story, recalling their encounters with the police, social services, and the painful image of a car leaving the police station with their daughters—while they stood helpless to protect their family.

While the Mejdani family was experiencing severe economic hardship and social exclusion, social services removed two of their daughters due to concerns about their living conditions. The girls were sent to a childcare unit in Saranda, while their parents were left with the unbearable pain and powerlessness of not being able to visit them or meet the requirements to regain custody. Unable to afford the trip to Saranda or even make a phone call—since they didn’t own one—the family felt as though they were losing their daughters for a second time. Their desperate search for legal help was mostly unsuccessful.

“We didn’t know what to do anymore. We were hopeless and desperate. Then we were advised to go to the Social Justice organisation and ask for help,” recalls Mejdani. Supported by the European Union project “The Inclusive EduJobs”, under the initiative Efficient Legal Services for Community Members: A Social Business, the Social Justice organisation helped the Roma family through the legal process. They facilitated the girls’ transfer from Saranda to Tirana, supported the family through court proceedings, and guided them in meeting the conditions required to regain custody.

“Thanks to these efforts, the girls were relocated to the Zyber Hallulli Orphanage in Tirana. At least after months of separation, we could visit them almost every day. Meanwhile, I found a job, and my wife was also supported by Social Justice. Still, we had to go through several court hearings before we could finally reunite the family,” says Ilmi Mejdani.

For him, the legal process was long and complicated. But nearly two years after losing custody, when the court finally ruled in his favour, he was overjoyed. “We went home and celebrated. We had been apart for more than a year, and finally, I could see my daughters at home again,” he recalls, almost in tears. “I just want to forget it,” he adds.

The Mejdani family was one of the cases where the project’s support—by helping the parents secure stable employment and navigate the legal system—significantly improved their financial situation and living conditions, ultimately fulfilling the requirements for reintegration. It also stands as a powerful example of the project’s comprehensive intervention, marking an unprecedented success: Roma families have historically struggled to regain custody of their children once it has been lost.

“We never talk about that period anymore, and we’ve never been apart since. We want to leave it behind. I couldn’t speak to them; I couldn’t see them. When they were taken away, we used to sit at the table with two plates missing. I couldn’t even eat, just staring at the empty space,” says Ilmi Mejdani, a father who regained the right to live with his daughters.

Background Information

The overall objective of the EU funded project, Inclusive EduJobs, is to improve the inclusion of women and men, boys and girls from Roma and Egyptian communities in Albania by strengthening municipal capacities to establish and deliver inclusive services to Roma and Egyptian citizens in the area of employment and inclusive education. This is aimed to be achieved by promoting self-employment/ employment schemes, social enterprises and access to digital and blended education for Roma and Egyptian students at the local level through financial support to third parties or sub granting for each intervention scheme in the area of employment or education. Inclusive EduJobs has three main pillars: Increasing access to the labor market, improving the school achievements of Roma and Egyptian students and increasing the capacities of institutions and organizations.