International child abductions, by one of the children’s parents, are unfortunately becoming more common. The image in the media is that of an Arab Muslim taking his child to his country of origin; however, this is only part of reality.
International child abduction
What exactly is an international child abduction? This involves withdrawing a child from the authority of the other parent against the other parent’s will. The will of the child is not relevant in determining whether there is international child abduction. The Central Authority (of the Ministry of Justice) is actively involved in requests for return and in requests to establish international child abduction.
Central Authority for International Child Abductions
In 2006, the Central Authority for International Child Abductions was established in response to the increase in the number of kidnappings. The Authority must provide help and information to all those involved in child abduction and also wants to mediate between parents.
Treaties
A number of countries have signed treaties seeking solutions to this problem: The Luxembourg European Convention (20 May 1980) and the Hague Convention (25 October 1980), the latter applying to members of the European Union, while under The first treaty also covers countries such as the United States, Australia, Canada and Israel. Most kidnappings take place to and from treaty countries. These treaties stipulate that if one of the parents has custody of a child in one of the member countries, this custody also applies in the other countries. A child may not travel to another country without the consent of the custodial parent, and certainly not be retained in that country. If this does happen, the child must be returned to the custodial parent if the parent so requests. The Central Authority is responsible for this, which must submit the case to a judge who will then decide on the basis of the treaties. It should be kept in mind that once a child lives in a new country for more than one year and is considered ‘rooted’ there, he or she does not have to return.
Non-treaty countries
Many countries have not signed the treaties, which often makes returning children very difficult. Especially when they are taken to a country where it is normal, for example, for the father to have custody and not the mother, as is the case in many Arab and other countries. This naturally includes the two children who spent seven months at the Dutch embassy in Damascus, Syria. Their father had kidnapped them to Syria and it was then virtually impossible for the mother to bring her children back to the Netherlands. Another case that has made it to the media is the story of Marian van Zon. Her Iraqi ex-boyfriend took their two children to an unknown destination in December 2002 and to this day both children are missing with no idea where they are.
Numbers
The Central Authority’s figures show that mothers are more likely to kidnap than fathers and that most kidnappings take place between Western countries, the aforementioned treaty countries. It should be remembered that many women are the custodial parent and their abduction is often ‘justified’.