A HAYES teenager is indebted to the British Red Cross for helping find her family in Somalia after more than two years of separation.

Saytun Ali, 19, wants to highlight the charity’s International Family Tracing service following the recent Red Cross Day of the Disappeared.

Saytun was forced to flee her native town in April 2012 when fighting broke out in the local market.

Unable to return home she sought refuge with her cousin at their uncle’s house, who arranged for their safe passage to Addis Ababa, where attempts to contact her family in Somalia were unfruitful.

Aged just 17, Saytun travelled by herself to London in August 2012 in search of a better life. However, still unable to contact her parents, she recalls her anxiety in not knowing if they were safe.

“I was happy that I finally felt safe, but some days I couldn’t eat I was so worried about my family,” she said.

While Saytun built a life for herself in supported accommodation in Hayes, she still pined for news of her family. Then, in December 2012, she contacted the Red Cross IFT service in London - with startling results.

IFT sent a message and a tracing form for Saytun’s father, as well as contacting BBC Somalia. She admits she was ready to hear anything.

Then, in May this year, more than a year after the initial tracing inquiry, the Red Cross received a message from the Somali Red Crescent to say Saytun’s family had been found safe and well.

Her father had sent a message with a telephone number for Saytun to contact them.

She learned that her older sister, who had fled Somalia at the same time, had been living in the UK, too.

Saytun is now re-united with her sister and is in regular contact with her parents. Her wish is that they will one day be able to escape the constant conflict in Somalia and join her in the UK.

“I feel so grateful to the Red Cross for all they have done,” said Saytun. “I wish everyone could be as lucky as me.”

The Red Cross IFT team marked the Day of the Disappeared on August 30 to commemorate missing persons and acknowledge the millions living in uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones.

Red Cross is running awareness-raising events across the country and distributing forget-me-not flower-shaped bookmarks in memory of those who are still missing.