A MOTHER is preparing to embark on a mercy mission to rescue her niece from war-torn Syria.

Ruby Kiddi, of The Mead, Edgware, plans to meet a “terrified” 22-year-old Sammah in Greece, who will risk her life to cross the Syrian border on Friday.

Sammah’s journey will see her escape from her hometown of Lattakia to Lebanon with the help of a chauffeur, before catching a boat to Turkey and taking a rubber Dinghy to Greece.

But the journey is not without its risks and Ms Kiddi wants to be there at the other side to welcome her hairdresser niece to safety.

The 47-year-old said: “I am not nervous because I am too old to worry about these things. I am nervous for her though, she is terrified. She is young and naïve.

“Either way – she needs to get out of there. It is like a prison, but in your own home. There is a 6pm curfew every night. They can’t go out, they can’t do anything, they can’t work.

“They are all living in fear. Aeroplanes keep going round above their heads, they don’t know when the next bomb is going to be hit. Food is scarce and expensive. She cannot stay.

“I cannot leave her there. I cannot let her face that country and the terrible things alone.”

Sammah’s father, Abdullah, 47, was a carpenter but had to escape after he was taken prisoner and tortured for going into a “restricted zone” last year.

He had been trying to pick up baby clothes from his daughter’s home with his son-in-law, as she was in labour and preparing to give birth to a baby girl.

Miraculously, they survived constant beatings and were released from jail two days later, black and blue.

While his daughter and son-in-law fled to Lebanon with their new-born daughter, Abdullah was hounded by Syrian intelligence officers who made his life a living hell.

With no other option, Abdullah had to leave his two daughters and wife behind and after a tumultuous journey, made it to Munich.

But Sammah is not entitled to join them under a family visa because she is too old to be considered a dependent.

Ms Kiddi added: “He took a rubber boat that was meant to fit 12 people but there were 40 in it. The boar deflated and began to fill with water. He ended up in the sea.

“Luckily a Green boat managed to pull up near them and Abdullah helped save all the children from the water onto the boat.”

He then made his way through Macedonia and Serbia before settling in a refugee camp in Greece, where his younger daughter and wife will be able to join him under German law.

Ms Kiddi, who has four children, was born in Lebanon but still has family in Syria.

She added: “I will be taking Sammah to Munich with her father because I don’t think there’s a way to bring them to England.

“I just want them all to be safe.”