Congratulations, Joel Lindop, Chair of our Abduction and International Contact group for his letter published in The Times newspaper.  

This was in the wake of the ‘Alex Batty’ case, the boy who was abducted by his mother and grandfather to Spain and then France. They were untraced for six years. He escaped and returned a few weeks ago.  

Joel pointed out that there are more than 500 known cases (and probably in fact many more) and more attention needs to be paid to them.  

The Hague convention (LINK) on the matter, to which most of the Western World and some others have signed, specifies that where there has been unlawful abduction, the child should be returned to the country of ‘habitual residence’ for the authorities there to decide where and with whom they should live. 

The recent BBC and other publicity have been to the effect that abductions are driven by attempts to escape domestic violence. We say this is rare.  We say they are more likely to be attempts to avoid allegations of abuse being investigated.  

Many abductions are to non-Hague countries. And even if there the abduction is to a ‘Hague country’ the return of the children depends on the co-operation of the authorities in that country. That is often not forthcoming. Most notably, Poland. The same countries often deny the children a relationship with the ‘left behind’ parent and their family.  

Precautions here need to be tightened. It should be less easy to remove children in the first place. 

All strength to Joel and his colleagues. 

*The link to his letter requires a subscription to the Times.  

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