The husband needs to take control and talk to his wife openly about this. What is he afraid of? She cannot keep the kids away from him - if she does he can take her to court and keep her there.
Two options:
A) Fix it. Work on it actively. Take charge, get some counseling and ignore the mom COMPLETELY. He needs to change his mindset...he has to choose right now: marriage or no marriage. If he wants this marriage to work then he has to become an active part of the solution.
B) Divorce. An environment such as the one you're describing is not exactly ideal for the kids. He's not doing them any favors by simply "staying" married. The way things are right now...the kids might become bitter and resentful and also a witness to EACH of their mistakes. Sometimes these situations bring out the nastiest side of us...almost an unnatural side of that would never have come out if we weren't pushed so far. That actually hurts kids more.
I doubt! Husband bhi kuch zayada hi innocent lag raha hai. Pakistani , immigrated to Ameera & soooo bechara. Taali dono hatho sey bajti hai, Lets wait till the wife writes on GS. Waiting to hear her part of zaloom & dukhi story.
But sometimes there are situations where either husband or wife is solely responsible for the mess and I've seen it personally.
Your friends situation is like the opposite of mine....my husband is the one who is ungrateful. He sees other people and wants what they have...but what is in your kismet is in you kismet...we can't change it.
I stopped going to my mum and dads because I didnt want my husband to think that I was speaking to them about our relationship.
Your friends will have to speak to his wife and explain that she needs to stop listening to her mother...any issues speak to him and see if they can resolve together and come to a compromise. Because even if they moved away...we have telephones...conversations can still be had.