The 62-year-old’s identity has been revealed in an attempt to secure her release after the fall of the last Isis stronghold

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A New Zealand nurse kidnapped in Syria more than five years ago may still be alive, the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) has said, revealing her identity for the first time in an attempt to secure her release.

Louisa Akavi, 62, and two Syrian colleagues have been held hostage for longer than anyone in the 156-year history of the international aid organisation.

The ICRC have not received information about the whereabouts of Alaa Rajab and Nabil Bakdounes since shortly after the trio were abducted, but continued to receive sporadic information on Akavi.

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The fall of Isis’s last stronghold in the region has potentially increased the risk of losing track of the New Zealander, but also raised hopes someone will come forward with information about all three.

“We are speaking out today to recognise Louisa’s, Alaa’s and Nabil’s hardship and suffering and to call for any information that could provide more leads into their whereabouts and wellbeing,” said Dominik Stillhart, director of operations for the ICRC.

The last confirmed sighting of Akavi was in late 2018 near the Euphrates River at the Syrian-Iraqi border, Stillhart told the Guardian.

“This was incredible information to receive, apparent confirmation of her location, that she was still alive and that she was still doing what she is trained to do and has long done: providing medical care in a conflict zone,” he said.

Akavi, a highly experienced Red Cross nurse who was on her 17th mission, was kidnapped alongside six colleagues on 13 October 2013 as they travelled in a medical delivery convoy to Idlib. Four were released the following day.

In Raqqa Akavi was held in an oil facility alongside numerous other western prisoners, the New York Times reported. She shared a cell with the US aid worker Kayla Mueller.

In 2014 a failed attempt by US commandos to rescue Akavi prompted threats to execute both women, the report said.

The ICRC said it had kept details of Akavi’s status secret in the hope of “a positive outcome” but now was the time to speak out.

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Stillhart said the Red Cross had been in “active communication” with Isis in the first years of Akavi’s abduction but could not persuade the group to release her.

“We tried to reach out to and influence the [Isis] leadership by speaking to sheiks in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We spoke to prisoners in the Middle East who might be able to guide us towards fresh information.”

In a video statement on Monday an unnamed member of Akavi’s New Zealand family spoke about the difficulty of her capture.

“We miss Louisa very much. We love her, and we just want her home” said the family member. “We think about her everyday, and hope she feels that and finds strength in that.”

In an emotional video pleading for her safe return, Stillhart said the trio had never left the ICRC’s mind.

“I want to tell you Louisa, Alaa and Nabil: we have continued searching for you throughout all these years and we won’t give up hope to see you once again among us,” Stillhart said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Destroyed buildings in Raqqa city, northeastern Syria Photograph: Ahmed Mardnli/EPA

“There are so many unknowns in hostage situations – circumstances constantly evolve – but we’ve never lost hope that they would resurface,” said Stillhart.

Pawel Krzysiek, who arrived in Syria for the ICRC six months after the abduction, said the conflict was constantly changing, making it difficult to know who controlled which territories.

“We don’t really know [who took her],” he told the Guardian. “Our medical convoy … was stopped by masked armed men and from there the colleagues were abducted. Who that was exactly, what was the rationale behind it, we don’t really know.”

He said Akavi had been held hostage by a number of different captors.

“Basically being moved from one territory to another from one defensive group to another until she ended up being held by the Islamic State group.”

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The New Zealand foreign minister, Winston Peters, said it was a “uniquely complex and difficult case” and that a multi-agency effort had been ongoing to secure Akavi’s release, with a team deployed to Syria, which was “specifically focused on locating Louisa and identifying opportunities to recover her”.

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern refused to answer questions about Akavi in her weekly post-cabinet press conference, saying the government believed it would be preferable if the case was not in the public domain.

Isis lost the last of its territory in March, adding to the mass displacement of women and children fleeing the regime. Hundreds of former fighters have also sought to negotiate safe passage.

In February the Times reported that senior Isis fighters were trying to negotiate their free movement from Baghuz, using information about Akavi, the British journalist John Cantlie and the Italian priest Paolo Dall’Oglio as bargaining chips.

Akavi’s 30 year career as a Red Cross nurse has taken her to some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones.

Her first mission was in Malaysia, treating Vietnamese refugees, and she went on to work in Somalia, the Solomon Islands, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Syria.