The Foreign Office has issued a statistic that the number of children abducted by a parent and taken to a country beyond Foreign Office protection has risen by 10% in the past year.
It states that in 2010 – 11, there were 161 of children being taken to countries from the UK. These countries were not signed up to a global Child Abduction Treaty. This is a rise from 146 the previous year.
The difficulty with this is that the UK authorities then struggle to negotiate a child’s return from such a country.
Many abductions happen during school holidays, typically when a partner refuses to return a child following a trip to their home country.
The 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction provides a tight legal framework and means parents can apply to a UK central authority for their child’s return. The lack of international agreement in countries that have not signed up makes negotiations extremely complex for UK authorities.
The Foreign Office Child Abduction Section deal with all new cases and then these cases are passed on to one of three central authorities covering England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The government will be promoting its awareness compaign on parenting websites such as Mumsnet and The Fatherhood Institute.
There are certain warning signs which a parent should look out for – the most obvious being the breakdown of a relationship. Other warning signs include:
a sudden interest in getting a passport or a copy of a Birth Certificate for a child;
a parent expressing a wish to holiday alone with the child;
or a sudden change in circumstances, including leaving a job or accommodation.
Unfortunately the psychological impact on children can be traumatic and for the left-behind parent, the shock and loss are unbearable, particularly if they don’t know where their child is.
If you believe that abduction of your child has taken place