Parents Kidnap Their Children, Flee Country | A Very Disturbing Trend In The Federation of Russia | Part Three |
FROM THE - JOURNALS of Monte Friesner - Senior Advocate & Consulaire for WANTED SA ~
Tuesday March 06, 2012
Parents Who Commit Kidnapping | Part Three In a Series of Six |
WANTED SA is writing a series of articles pertaining to the abduction of children by a parent and taking the children out of the Jurisdiction of the country of their birth. Parents who kidnap children are the worst manner of criminal and there is no excuse for their selfish acts.
More children are being abducted by a parent who then takes them out of the country, and more needs to be done to bring the children back to their legal homes, the Federation of Russia. official who oversees the issue said recently.
The number of such abductions reported is "sharply on the rise -- a very disturbing trend," said Susan Jacobs, the special advisor for children's issues at the US State Department. Kidnapping of Children is on the rise even in the USA, Canada and Europe.
Jacobs also said her department is one of the fastest growing offices at the State Department because of the increasing rate of international abductions involving children with American parents.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited children said that in 2010 there were nearly 2,000 parental abductions in which the child was taken out of the United States.
"International parental abduction is a federal crime with long-term, damaging consequences for both parents and children, even when the cases are resolved," Jacobs said. "Parents seeking the return of their children or permission to visit them confront unfamiliar legal, cultural, and linguistic barriers; they suffer emotional trauma, and they face significant and long-term financial costs."
The United States is encouraging other countries to sign onto The Hague Convention on international child abductions, a treaty signed by more than 60 countries that provides a civil mechanism to return children wrongfully removed from the country where they live.
Jacobs said decisions under the convention are commonly based on where the child usually resides. When properly implemented, "the convention works," she said.
The issue grabbed headlines a few years ago with the case of Sean Goldman, whose American father, David, was engaged in an international custody battle after the boy's Brazilian mother refused to let the child return to his father following a vacation in Brazil.
The boy was eventually returned to his father after a ruling by the Brazilian Supreme Court.
Jacobs, incidentally, met with Brazilian authorities last week to discuss ways to speed up the reunification of children with their families. From their discussions, Jacobs said, Brazil and the United States are to hold the first meeting of a children's working group later this year.
Jacobs and others traveled to the Department of Justice Wednesday afternoon for an observance of National Missing Children's Day to honor the work of those in law enforcement who recover missing children and combat child exploitation.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has weighed in on the issue as well. In videotaped remarks to mark the day, Clinton asked for to people to continue to speak out on the issue to "help children around the world come home."
• Note: If you know or suspect a child has been abducted, please contact our office collect and submit the information in confidence.
WANTED SA kindly thanks ICE, Reuters, Homeland Security, Kenneth Rijock, Reuters, Associated Press, DEA, FBI, Westlaw, Arutz Sheva, and all the Parties, Press, Journalists, Law Enforcement and Securities forces who have contributed to the many articles and their sincere opinions and statements.
WANTED SA states that the facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of WANTED SA. We do not warrant the accuracy of any of the facts and opinions stated in this article nor do we endorse them or accept any form of responsibility for the articles.
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