December 17 , 2013

Source: www.gov.uk

The number of parental child abduction and custody cases has more than doubled over the last decade *, with almost two children being abducted abroad each day, according to new figures released today by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and charity, Reunite.

The FCO has launched a hard-hitting film, Caught in the middle, to highlight the issues and encourage parents to think of the consequences before doing something that could do lasting damage to the children and families involved.

In 2003/04 the FCO was involved in 272 new parental child abduction and international custody cases. In 2012/13 that figure rose to 580, the second highest figure ever recorded.

This year alone**, Reunite – a charity that provides advice and support to parents involved in parental child abduction cases – has dealt with 447 new cases involving 616 children. It reported a particular spike in cases after Christmas 2012 and again in September this year following the summer holidays.

Mark Simmonds, Minister for Consular Affairs, said:

I was very concerned to see an increase in child abduction cases. Parental child abduction has a devastating emotional impact on the child as well as the taking parent and the parent left behind. It can do lasting damage to a child’s relationship with both parents and their happiness. These are often distressing cases for everyone involved and there are no easy fixes, but our staff around the world work hard to assist those parents left behind.

We are launching this awareness campaign in the lead up to Christmas to try to prevent parents from doing something that would cause significant distress to themselves, their family and most importantly to the child. We also encourage parents to look for warning signs that their partner may be considering this. Once children are taken overseas it can be extremely difficult to secure their return to the UK. Many parents are not aware that by abducting their child, they may be committing a crime.

Alison Shalaby, Chief Executive of Reunite, said:

Parental child abduction is not faith or country specific – we see cases involving a range of countries from France and Poland to Thailand, Pakistan and Australia. The holidays can be a particularly stressful time for families, especially if the relationship between parents has broken down. However, there is help available if you think that your partner may be considering abducting your children. Last year we helped to prevent 412 cases involving 586 children which demonstrates something can be done to prevent it from happening to you.

Parental child abduction cases can take years to resolve, with significant impact on the child or children involved. There is a very real possibility that the child may never be returned. Even when cases are resolved it can take up to 10 years, with a devastating impact on the child, parents and families involved.

There is no typical ‘abducting parent’ – although abductions are more likely to take place where families have links to more than one country and, contrary to popular opinion, it is more likely to be the mother who abducts than the father (approximately 70% of abducting parents are mothers).

It is also much harder to return a child from a country that has not signed the 1980 Hague Convention, an international agreement between certain countries which aims to ensure the return of a child who has been abducted by a parent. The table below illustrates the most common Hague and non-Hague countries that children are abducted to.

As well as emotional distress, both parents may often face severe financial difficulties as they fight for custody of their child through foreign courts. Legal costs overseas and in the UK may continue to mount up for parents, who must bear responsibility for the cost of any legal action taken, even after the child is returned to this country.

The FCO is working with Mumsnet and the charity, Families Need Fathers (FNF) to answer questions parents might have about this issue via their web pages Families Need Fathers and Mumsnet.

Where to go for help

There are lots of free sources of advice and support to help parents through difficult periods, including if you think your child is at risk of being abducted or has already been taken. You can call the Reunite helpline on 01162 556 234. You can also call social services and speak to a specialist solicitor. Counselling and support is available through Relate and the Samaritans.

Alternatively, you can contact the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on 020 7008 1500, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, visit our Child Abduction page for more information or read our advice leaflet.

You can also email childabduction@fco.gov.uk

Further information

For further information or to arrange media interviews please contact: 0207 478 7840

The 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is a multi-lateral international treaty, the aim of which is the return of a child who has been wrongfully removed or wrongfully retained away from the country where he or she normally lives, so that issues of residence (which parent a child should live with), relocation (which country a child should live in) and contact (access) can be decided by the courts of that country. All cases that come under the Hague Convention are dealt with by one of the three Central Authorities in the UK (the International Child Abduction and Contact Unit covers England and Wales and there are two separate bodies for Scotland and Northern Ireland). To find out which countries are part of this Convention, visit the HccH website

Visit our Child Abduction page for further information on parental child abduction, or the Reunite website

*Taken from 2003-2013 data held by the FCO. The FCO dealt with 580 new child abduction and custody cases in 2012/13, a 113% increase on the 272 new child abduction and custody cases it dealt with in 2003/04

**Reunite figures, January 2013 – October 2013

***Based on figures provided by the 1980 Hague Central Authority for England and Wales, Scottish 1980 Hague Central Authority and the 1980 Hague Central Authority in Northern Ireland.

Also read: Christmas holiday is the high season for International parental child kidnapping

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ABP World Group Risk Management

From all of us, to all of you. Merry Christmas, may your Christmas holiday be safe and peaceful.

ABP World Group Ltd.

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ABP World Group Risk Management

December 29, 2013

Source: Vancouver Sun

There are few more heart-wrenching stories than those of parental child abductions. Forget the emotional dynamics that drive ex-wives and ex-husbands to use their children as weapons in an ongoing war. The greatest damage inflicted is on little kids, which is why for the past 35 years all but Japan among the developed countries in the world and dozens of others have signed on to the Hague Convention of Child Abduction.

The convention requires signatory countries to honour the court orders of other member states. The goal is to protect children’s right to have access to both of their parents.  And while the Hague Convention’s application isn’t always perfect, it’s the best we’ve got so far. Of course, it would be better if more countries signed on and then lived up to both the convention’s letter and spirit.

I’ve written a number of stories, most recently an update on five-year-old Max Kawabata-Morness, who was abducted July 26 by his mother Chie Kawabata. In the column, which follows below, I mentioned that as far as I knew Canada has never put pressure on Japan to either ratify or enforce the Hague Convention.

It turns out I was wrong. Strangely, the correction didn’t come from Prime Minister Stephen Harper or anyone in the Canadian government. The mistake was pointed out by  — Capt. Paul Toland, executive assistant to the deputy surgeon general of the U.S. Navy. Toland’s daughter, Erika, was less than a year old when she was abducted by her Japanese mother in August 2003. His last contact with her was in July 2004.

(Toland’s story is one of five in a documentary of parental child abductions called From the Shadows.)

Toland provided me a link to a 2006 Kyodo News International report on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s first meeting with Japan’s then-prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. Here’s part of what that report says: “Harper, who took office in February, was meeting Koizumi for the first time, took the Japanese delegation by surprise when he brought up the issue of parental child abductions and called on Japan to accede to the Hague Convention.”

Toland also gave me a link to a Japanese government press release from the June 17, 2013 meeting between Harper and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that referenced Harper’s 2006 comments about the Hague Convention and updated him on Japan’s intention to become a signatory.

Of  course, as I noted in my Nov. 1 column, Japan’s enabling legislation appears to have a massive loophole that would allow Japanese judges to reject any foreign court orders regarding children that run contrary to Japanese “custom.”

Here’s the column.

December 29, 2013

Source:  Washington Post

SEAN GOLDMAN was 4 years old when his Brazilian-born mother took him from their New Jersey home for what Sean’s father, David Goldman, thought would be a two-week vacation. Five years passed before the father again laid eyes on his son.

“It was very painful,’’ David Goldman recalled. “The first time I saw him after nearly five years, he looked at me and asked me where have I been all this time. . . . He was told that I didn’t love him, that I abandoned him, that I never wanted him.”

The only unusual feature of this story is that David Goldman eventually regained custody, though even after the boy’s mother died in 2008 her Brazilian family continued to resist his efforts. He succeeded in part because Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.)relentlessly focused attention and pressure on the case. Now a bill written by Mr. Smith, the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act, has been approved by the House, 398 to 0, and is set for consideration in the Senate. But the State Department doesn’t want the additional diplomatic tools the bill would provide.

According to State, 1,144 children were reported abducted from the United States in 2012. There were 1,367 in 2011 and 1,492 in 2010. State Department officials say they work hard to get those children back — or at least to get the cases fairly adjudicated — but they can’t or won’t say how many of those abducted children remain overseas. That raises questions about their claims for success for “quiet diplomacy.”

In a letter to Mr. Smith, Robert E. Wallace, executive director of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), said the abduction of children by a separated spouse is a particular problem for service members, especially in Japan. Mr. Wallace said the service members’ appeals for help “are too often met with bad legal advice, misinformation or indifference. . . . It is time for the U.S. government to take concrete action.” An organization of victimized parents said that the result of quiet diplomacy is “that the Government of Japan has not once assisted in returning a single abducted child.” Japan at least is in the process of acceding to an international treaty on the subject; most countries have not done so.

The House bill provides for a series of graduated sanctions against countries that demonstrate a pattern of non-cooperation; it also would encourage the United States to negotiate agreements with countries that have not ratified the treaty. In both cases, the executive branch would act only if it chose to do so; the bill provides for a presidential waiver. Nonetheless, a State Department official told us putting tools in the tool kit would be counterproductive because U.S. officials would face pressure to use them and other countries would resent the implied threat.

Given the administration’s inability to quantify its success, or to report any results at all, the argument for the status quo is not persuasive. An aide to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told us that the committee will take the measure up soon. We hope soon means soon. For thousands of parents deprived of the chance even to communicate with their children, quiet diplomacy isn’t getting the job done.

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ABP World Group Risk Management

Desember 29, 2013

Kilde: TV2 / Bortført.no

TV2 Nyhetene ikveld klokken 21.00

Opprørt tobarnsfar mener Nav er med på å finansiere barnekidnapping til utlandet – i over åtte år har han kjempet for å få sine to sønner tilbake til Norge. Se Videosnutt her

Tommy Hoholm forteller om kidnappingen av sine sønner til Slovakia

Da guttene dro til sin mor på ferie i begynnelsen av Juli 2005 ante jeg uro. Hun hadde ved flere anledninger truet meg med å kidnappe guttene. Så det var med et tungt hjerte jeg sendte dem til deres mor på ferie 1. Juli 2005.  Da jeg da ringte etter et par dager for å høre hvordan de hadde det, tok moren deres ikke telefonen. Hun skrev en sms, der hun sa at de ville ringe meg litt senere.

Jeg ante med en gang at det var noe som ikke stemte, så jeg ba derfor en kamerat om å dra til huset for å undersøke om guttene var der. Kameraten ringte meg da tilbake og var spak i stemmen. Alt han sa, var at jeg måtte komme innover å ta en titt. Jeg kjørte med en gang innover og kunne konstantere at alle lekene var borte, gardiner var tatt ned, møblene var vekk osv. Jeg skjønte umiddelbart hva som hadde skjedd.

Hennes far, søster og svoger var på bilferie i Norge da kidnappingen skjedde, og mest sannsynelig har de tatt dem med i bil over til Sverige og derfra til Tyskland, Tsjekkia og så Slovakia.

Følelsene mine rundt denne situasjonen er ubeskrivelige. Jeg klarte ikke få fram ett ord, hele verden falt i grus der og da.

Politiet
Det første jeg gjorde, var å ta kontakt med den lokale politistasjonen. Da jeg møtte opp der var det liten forståelse som ventet meg (dette er da meget underlig, siden justisdepartementet hadde sendt ut rundskriv til alle politidistrikt hvordan de skulle behandle slike saker).
Jeg ble sendt hjem med en lapp med telefonnummer til to saksbehandlere hos Interpol i Oslo. Så jeg dro hjem og ringte saksbehandleren hos Interpol, som ikke forsto hvordan jeg hadde fått fatt i telefonnummer til dem. Jeg forklart dem saken i korte trekk, der jeg fikk beskjed om å vente til de hadde snakket med det lokale politikontoret. Interpol ringte meg så opp igjen og ba meg dra på nytt til det lokale politiets kontor. Da jeg da kom utover til Lensmannskontoret fikk jeg en bedre behandling en første runde. Men det eneste de kunne gjøre var å sende ut en etterlysning.

Justisdepartementet
Jeg tok så kontakt med Justisdepartementet som er det organet som skal hjelpe til i slike saker.
I løpet av den tiden jeg har jobbet med å få guttene tilbake, har jeg hatt fem saksbehandlere på 2,4 år. I begynnelsen av desember 2005 fikk jeg telefon om å ha passet klart slik at jeg kunne reise nedover for å hente guttene hjem. Jeg ordnet alt klart, penger og pass. Men slik skulle det ikke bli. Tiden gikk og jeg ventet på telefonen som skulle ringe hver dag. Da januar kom 2006 ringte jeg selv til min saksbehandler hos justisdepartementet og spurte, når jeg skulle reise? Jeg fikk da til svar, at det hadde skjedd en feil og derfor kunne jeg ikke få hentet guttene hjem.

Etter denne hendelsen fikk jeg en ny saksbehandler hos Justisdepartementet. Hver gang jeg ringte fikk jeg som svar at: jeg var akkurat på tur til å se på saken din, den ligger øverst i bunken, vent litt jeg skal se om det er kommet en ny mail fra Slovakia eller hva synes du vi skal skrive til de Slovakiske myndighetene? (Jeg lurte i perioder på om det var jeg eller saksbehandleren hos Justisdepartementet som skulle sitte inne med kompetanse på dette feltet).

Sommeren 2006 fikk jeg nok av måten jeg ble behandlet på av ”Det Kongelige Justisdepartementet”.  Jeg har jo dom fra Tingretten, lagmannsretten og høyesteretten som sier at barna skal bo hos sin far i Norge. Jeg ringte da Justisdepartementet i begynnelsen av sommeren, der jeg da fikk opplyst at det ikke fantes noen saksbehandler lenger på saken. Jeg bestemte meg raskt at denne historien måtte fortelles til landets befolkning. Ikke pågrunn av meg, men pågrunn av den uretten guttene mine blir stilt over for i rettsstaten Norge. Jeg tenkte med meg selv ”er dette måten de behandler alle bortføring og kidnappingssaker som angår barn, er det ikke rart de ikke klarer å løse flere saker”.
Min søster og hennes mann, som har vært uvurderlige støttespillere i denne saken med guttene, hjalp meg så for å komme i kontakt med Dagbladet. Dagbladet trykket historien over 2 sider den 7 August 2006.
Etter saken var på trykk hos Dagbladet, ringte telefonen etter ett par dager. Det var den nye saksbehandleren som rinte og beklaget situasjonen som hadde oppstått. Jeg har fortsatt samme saksbehandler per i dag.

Det positive med å gå ut i mediene

Som sagt var historien trykket den 7. August 2006. Det jeg har opplevd som positivt med dette, er at jeg har kommet i kontakt med andre som har opplevd det samme som meg. I velferdsstaten Norge finnes det ikke en organisasjon som du kan henvende deg til, dersom du opplever bortføring av barn. Dette synes jeg er underlig, siden det er en av de største tragediene vi som foreldre kan oppleve i våre liv. Det finnes ingen innstanser som forteller hvordan du skal gå fram for å løse en slik sak. Det finnes ingen krisehjelp, tvert imot blir du ikke trodd, verken på politistasjoner, legekontorer eller trygdekontorer. Derfor opplevde jeg det svært positivt da jeg fikk kontakt med andre foreldre som var i samme situasjon, og også foreldre som kunne dele sin erfaring etter at saken deres var avsluttet.

En av dem som ringte meg etter at jeg var ute i avisen, har bistått meg hele veien i saken. Han satte meg i kontakt med privatetterforsker Harald Olsen, noe som han sa var helt nødvendig i min sak (noe som kan vise seg å være gull verd). Dette fordi staten Norge har en oppfatning av at barn er barn og ikke ”mennesker”. Som en saksbehandler sa ”barna har det vel bra der de er i Slovenia”, da jeg måtte fortelle han at barna ikke er i Slovenia, men i Slovakia. Det jeg etterlyser, er hvor barns rettssikkerhet er i den Norske velferdsstaten.

Hva skjer nå?

Pågrunn av sakens karakter, kan jeg ikke utdype min historie noe mer (men jeg lover å komme med mer når saken er løst). Det som vi jobber med nå er en rettsprosess som er ulovelig satt i gang i Slovakia. Det vi nå håper på er at Justisministeren ”Knut Storberget” vil ta tak i saken og hjelpe guttene Timothy og Joachim hjem til Kongeriket Norge.

Spørsmål til staten Norge og Justisministeren fra Tommy Hoholm

• Hvorfor belønner vi mennesker som gjøre en straffbar handling etter Straffeloven av 22 mai. Nr 10. § 216? (med belønning mener jeg i form av bidrag og barnetrygd, i mange av disse sakene er motivet penger)

• Hvorfor er det ikke en støtteforening, som man kan henvende seg til når slike ting som bortføring og kidnapping oppstår?

• Hvor er barnas rettssikkerhet?

• Hvorfor kaller saksbehandlerne hos Justisdepartementet slike saker for en privatsak, mens kidnapping av voksen er en statssak og straffesak?

• Hvor blir det av komiteen som skulle jobbe direkte med slike saker og som skulle få fortgang i slike saker?

• Hvilke konkrete tiltak skal staten Norge sette i gang med i forhold til slike saker? (Jeg mener at en enkelt internettside ikke er nok)

• I flere saker skjuler Fylkesmannen seg bak ”at det ikke er normal rettspraksis å få dekket noen av utgiftene i slike saker” (dette gjelder da ikke min sak, der jeg får dekket deler av saken). Hvor går grensen for å få dekket en sak med barnebortføring? Er det da ikke av Kongeriket Norges interesse å få tilbake sine statsborgere?

Tommy Hoholm

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ABP World Group Risk Management

30 December 2013

Source: TheJournal.ie

BRITISH GOVERNMENT FIGURES show there were 28 cases in the past year involving children who were abducted from a parent or guardian in the UK and taken to Ireland.

Total figures for parental child abduction and international custody cases have been revealed by authorities in Britain as they seek to raise awareness of the problem ahead of an expected spike in cases after Christmas.

They relate to cases whereby a child was taken out of the UK against the stipulation of a court order or against the will of one parent.

The number of cases involving the Foreign Office has more than doubled in the last decade, from 272 in 2003-2004 to 580 in the past year. Cases involving children taken to Ireland accounted for the fourth largest number of such incidents; Pakistan accounted for 35 cases, followed by the US (32) and Poland (29).

Contrary to the belief that fathers are most often to blame, mothers are responsible for 70 percent of the abductions, the Foreign Office said. Charities involved in child abduction said there was a spike in cases just after Christmas last year, and again in September following the summer holidays.

Figures from the Department of Justice here show there were 83 cases of suspected abduction in in 2012 relating to attempts to bring children out of the country. The Department also dealt with 64 cases involving children entering the state.

Speaking earlier this year upon the release of the Irish figures, Justice Minister Alan Shatter said that parental-child abductions remained a “worrying problem”.

The UK Foreign Office has produced this video aimed at encouraging parents to consider the consequences of taking a child out of the country without permission…

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ABP World Group Risk Management

January 1 , 2014

Tragically International Child Abduction has reached global epidemic proportions.  According to leading experts the increase in inter-racial marriages and relationships  will, in the future, lead to a significant rise in the number of children born to parents of different nationalities 

As is true for all relationships, a statistically significant number of these marriages or partnerships will also end in divorce. All too often, following the breakup of a marriage, one of the parents will abduct a child of that relationship against the wishes of the other parent,  frequently removing them to a country where the child has probably never lived. This is called “International Parental Child Abduction”.

Although there are various civil remedies available to parents of abducted children, the challenges they face are enormous, including first and foremost, locating  the child.

Unfortunately for the majority of targeted parents, the financial burden involved in recovery and litigation falls upon their shoulders. With tens of thousands of children abducted by parents each year, the reality is that too many of these children never come home.  ABP World Group is dedicated to assisting those parents who need help in locating, rescuing, and returning  their abducted child home safely.

Statement from a US client:

“After all my years of experience as Worldwide Medical Director for the worlds largest medical assistance company, I found only ABP World capable of providing the unique service of non-violent recovery of a abducted child. It is very difficult to find a company like ABP World that can provide the experience, honesty, integrity, and assets to actually recover an abducted child safely and at a reasonable cost. I hold ABP World in highest regard and recommend them whole heartedly. The world is simply a better place because of the work they do.”

Our intelligence and investigative capabilities combined with our ability to dispatch personnel to most locations in the world offer a safe and strategic solution to protecting what is most important to you, your child.

Unfortunately in this present climate parental kidnapping occurs all too frequently and we are here to help you through this extremely traumatic period.

We are aware that parental child abduction can be difficult to resolve, but through the use of professional operatives with the skills and expertise necessary to find a resolution. We are here to help you.

ABP World Group’s successful recovery and re-unification strategies rely on the use of all the means available  including, but not limited to:

Electronic Forensic Foot printing Investigations

. Intelligence Gathering

. Information Specialists/Skip Tracing

. Evidence Procurement

. Interview/Evaluation

. Surveillance Special Ops

. Non-Combatant Evacuation Ops

. Domestic Support

. International Operations

. Maritime/Land/Air transport

Danish Client:
“I have received assistance from ABP World Group in bringing my kidnapped child back home. The situation demanded alternative solutions in order to bring my child safely home, as the country where my child was kidnapped to, did not actively participate in helping solving the kidnapping. In this regard ABP World Group proved to be invaluable help. They provided the necessary experience in dealing with these matters and throughout the planning and execution always kept calm and seemed prepared for everything. It was my impression that the safety of my child and myself was always the top priority, and they always made sure to take any necessary precautions through detailed planning rather than pursuing a quick solution.

January 4 , 2014

Source: au.news

1. Get solid advice and retain a solicitor with a demonstrable track record in International Parental Child Abduction – don’t waste money on a suburban lawyer who will charge you billable hours to research this specialised field of the law.

2. Obtain Family Court Orders upon marital or relationship separation prohibiting the issuance of new passports for the children and also banning travel outside Australia’s borders for your children without the written consent of both parents.

3. Insist that your solicitors ask for the orders to also include all airlines operating in Australia have these orders served on the international carriers.

4. The orders will also be registered with the AFP on their watchlist and the various immigration controls at Australian exit points.

5. File photographs of you children with the AFP and all airlines.

6. If you fear your children have already been taken, refer to item 1.

7. It is possible to ground an aircraft, have it turned around, or have the child ‘boomeranged’ back home if the correct court orders are obtained with alacrity. The Family Court of Australia has an out of hours service that can provide a judge to hear urgent applications in the middle of the night. Act fast, speed is of the essence and for this, you need an experience legal representative.

8. Notify the DFAT – see listings below.

9. Notify the AG’s department – see listings below.

10. Take detailed notes whenever contact is made with either the abducting parent, Attorney General’s office, or DFAT. ALWAYS note the name of the contact and the time and date, inclusive of telephone numbers.

11. Ascertain if your child has been taken to a Hague Convention Country – see listings below.

12. Contact the relevant bodies for the country (if Hague signatory) to which the child has been taken – list your children’s details with them and ask for a case number.

13. Provide the Australian Authorities with this overseas case number to expedite the file.

Please note, Jacqueline Pascarl will be retiring from this field of work in August, 2009, after 17 years, which will mean that their will be no credentialed NGO assisting left behind parents in Australia.

82 Countries are now signatories to the Hague Convention. For an up to date list, use the link below.

http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Internationalchildabduction_CountrieswhicharepartiestotheHagueConvention

For informative information from the USA’s Department of State on International Parental Child Abduction

http://travel.state.gov/family/abduction/hague_issues/hague_issues_1487.html

Relevant explanation on the Hague Convention which explains it is also for use in cases where contact with a non-custodial parent is being denied

http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Internationalchildabduction_TheHagueConventionontheCivilAspectsofInternationalChildAbduction

Attorney General’s Department

Canberra, Australia
Tel: +61 (0)2 6250 6666

http://www.ag.gov.au

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Canberra, Australia
1300 555 135 (24 hr hotline)

http://www.dfat.gov.au

United Kingdom

Reunite — International Child Abduction Centre
PO Box 7124

Leicester LE1 7 XX,

Advice Line:

Tel: +44 (0) 116 2556 234

General Enquiries:
Tel: +44 (0) 116 2555 345

Fax: +44 (0) 116 2556 370

http://www.reunite.org

E-mail: reunite@dircon.co.uk

United States of America

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
(US Central Authority for Incoming Cases)
Charles B Wang International Children’s Building
699 Prince Street

Alexandria, VA 22314–3175,

24 hour hotline
Tel: +1 703 274 3900

Fax: +1 703 274 2200

http://www.missingkids.com

European Union

Child Focus – European Centre for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children

Tel: +32 2 475 44 99

(24 hr hotline)

http://www.childfocus.org

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ABP World Group Risk Management

January 6 , 2014

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

A law that is in the making in the US has the potential to further strain India-America ties that are already hit by a row over the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York.

The Senate is set to consider a Bill that seeks to empower the US president to impose tough penalties on any country that refuses to return American children “abducted” by their own parents. The legislation that has already passed the House of Representatives covers cases where one of the parents  takes his or her child away from the US and relocates to a foreign country, sources in the US government said.

India is among the top 10 destinations of “parental abduction of children”. The number of such “abducted” American children in India was 95 at the end of 2012. These cases originate from marital discords in Indian-American families and involve one parent relocating to India with the children to pre-empt legal actions by the other parent in the US.

The provisions in the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Bill could trigger legal battles between India and the US.

Under the proposed law, the US president could take action against India and other countries which either have not signed the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or do not have any agreements with the US for the repatriation of children subjected to global “parental abductions”. The steps the US president could take include limiting security assistance, withdrawal of development assistance and using diplomatic tools to block loans from the World Bank and the IMF, apart from imposing visa restrictions, sources said.

As many as 90 countries including the US, Russia and China are signatories to the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. It provides for expeditious return of a child abducted internationally by a parent from one member country to another with the interventions of the two governments. Except Sri Lanka, no other South Asian country has signed the Convention.

India’s Ministry of Law and Justice is of the view that if India signs the pact, it would put Indian women married to non-resident Indians or foreign nationals to disadvantage in cases of divorces and legal battles over the custody of children, Indian government sources said. This is also one of the reasons why India has not signed a bilateral agreement with the US for cooperation in such cases, they said.

The Law Commission of India, however, had recommended in 2009 that India should accede to the Hague Convention. New Delhi is currently analyzing the implications of the Bill passed by the House of Representatives, sources said.

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ABP World Group Risk Management

January 8 , 2014

Source: carsonvalleytimes.com

by Sgt. Pat Brooks, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

Minden, Nevada – The ongoing investigation of a parental abduction of two children, missing since November 21, 2013 has concluded with the arrest of Kathryn Ann Moore and the safe recovery of the two children Patricia Read and William Moore.

The arrest of Moore was made possible by a joint investigation between the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Marshals Offices in Reno, NV, and the states of Oklahoma and Washington.

Sheriff Ron Pierini wants to express that he has set a priority for missing children cases and wants to extend his gratitude to the Investigation Division for the dedication to follow leads and utilize assets in the location of the children.

Investigator Chrzanowski would like to thank the US Marshals Office for providing personnel to assist in following up leads outside the state of Nevada…thank you.

Moore was located in a family member’s home in Colville, Washington. No injuries were reported. Moore is pending extradition from the State of Washington.  The children will be released to the father, by the US Marshals.

This was the initial report from last month:

inden, Nevada – Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating a parental abduction of two children, missing since November 21, 2013.

According to reports, Kathryn Ann Moore (44 years old from Wellington, NV) was scheduled to appear in District Court for the scheduled child exchange of 5 year old Patricia Brite Read and 2 year old William Jesse Moore, to their father Richard Read (Gardnerville, NV), who has joint custody of the children. Kathryn did not appear in court for this exchange. Attempts to contact Kathryn have been unsuccessful and a recent visit to her home has indicated that she has left with the children.

On December 11, 2013, a nationwide felony warrant of arrest for Child Concealment has been issued for Kathryn Moore and the children have been entered into National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database as missing.

Kathryn is believed to be driving a full size blue 1985 Chevrolet van bearing Nevada plates 270YRY.

Kathryn has family in Tomball Texas, Tuolumne California, La Pine Oregon, St. Helens Oregon, Portland Oregon, Vancouver Washington, Longview Washington and Concord North Carolina.

It is believed the children are not in danger at this time, therefore this does not meet the requirements of an Amber Alert. Information on the children has been provided to The Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Anyone who has information as to the location of Kathryn Moore and/or the children is asked to contact your local law enforcement agency immediately.

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ABP World Group Risk Management

January 21 , 2014

Source : LEPCA 

January 23, 2014

“We agree with some of the systems governments have in place to prevent and fight these family disputes, they do work on many different levels and in some cases have great results.

We only exist to help those who have been effected by the failures within the system, mainly due to a conflict in laws or procedures from other governments. These flaws can prevent a parent from any access to their children and even lock them out of pursuing a court case.

Desperate parents turn to us only because they have no where else to turn. We find that it is our responsibility to help those who have no one else to turn to. We do our best in helping these families but we are not miracle workers, sometimes we fail due to difficult circumstances but no one can match the numbers of abducted children that we have achieved to bring home safely during the last 12 years.

 
«After all my years of experience as Worldwide Medical Director for the worlds largest medical assistance company, I found only ABP World Group capable of providing the unique service of non-violent recovery of an abducted child»
It is very difficult to find a company like ABP World that can provide the experience, honesty, integrity, and assets to actually recover an abducted child safely and at a reasonable cost. I hold ABP World in highest regard and recommend them wholeheartedly. The world is simply a better place because of the work they do. – R. Weston

It is understandable that some concerns are raised about parents using a private security firm, the majority of these parents have no other options left except give up their children and be at risk to never seeing them again. In the last 5 years parental abductions have risen dramaticly, the success of Hague applications is only 3-5%, and the actual success of courts enforcing the Hague applications is less.

The tools that are in place are dated and need to be modernized to ensure a fair return of children to their place of origin so parents can mediate and do whats best for the actual victim, the children.

“It is a great misconception that a child abducted by a parentis a safe child” - Martin Waage, ABP World Group

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ABP World Group Risk Management

January 30 , 2014

Source: gomexico

In order to prevent international child abductions, many countries require children who are traveling without their parents to present documentation that proves that the parents authorize the child to travel.

In the past, it was an official requirement of the Mexican government that any child entering or exiting the country should carry a letter of permission from their parents, or of the absent parent in the case of a child traveling with only one parent.

In many cases the documentation was not asked for, but it could be requested by immigration officials.

Since January 2014, new regulations for children traveling to Mexico stipulate that foreign children who travel to Mexico as tourists or visitors for up to 180 days only need to present a valid passport, and are not required to present other documentation. However, Mexican children, including those holding dual citizenship with another country, or foreign children residing in Mexico who travel unaccompanied by either parent are required to show proof of their parents permission to travel. They must carry a letter from the parents authorizing travel into Mexico. The letter must be translated into Spanish and legalized by the Mexican embassy or consulate in the country where the document was issued. A letter is not required in the case of a child traveling with only one parent.

Note that these are the requirements of the Mexican immigration authorities. Travelers must also meet the requirements of their home country for exit and return.

Here is an example of a letter of authorization for travel:

 (Date)

I (parent’s name), authorize my child/children, (child/children’s name) to travel to (destination) on (date of travel) aboard Airline/Flight # (flight information) with (accompanying adults), returning on (date of return).

Signed by parent or parents
Address:
Telephone/Contact:

Signature/Seal of Mexican embassy or consulate

The same letter in Spanish would read:

(Date)

Yo (parent’s name), autorizo a mi hijo/a (child’s name) a viajar a (destination) el (date of travel) en la aerolinea (flight information) con (name of accompanying adult), regresando el (date of return).

Firmado por los padres
Direccion:
Telefono:

(Signature / Seal of Mexican embassy) Sello de la embajada Mexicana

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ABP World Group Risk Management

February 7 , 2014

Source: cslea.com

“Sovereign Citizen” Father Found With Drugs & Bogus $100 Bills

When California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) Member and California State Parks Ranger Dan Perata checked on a broken down vehicle January 10, 2014, it was standard operating procedure.  What happened next, makes him a hero in the eyes of many parents.

“There’s no question in my mind, Ranger Perata’s attentiveness and actions saved this child from harm,” said CSLEA President Alan Barcelona.  “After inspecting one vehicle parked under the interstate, he moved on to a second one and discovered a man and a child sleeping inside.  He didn’t know it immediately, but the child was a victim in a parental abduction.”

Ranger Perata discovered the vehicle and its occupants on Quail Canyon Road under Interstate 5 south of the Gorman area.  Instead of disturbing the sleeping man and child, Ranger Perata ran the vehicle’s license plate.  Information attached to the license plate revealed the vehicle was involved in the  parental abduction of a child.  Ranger Perata called for back-up and subsequently arrested the man.  He then discovered the suspect in possession of 10 grams of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and counterfeit $50 and $100 bills.  In addition to kidnapping charges, the suspect was arrested on drug and counterfeit money charges and resisting a peace officer.   The child appeared to be in good health.

The suspect was identified  as a “sovereign citizen,” someone who believes that federal, state and local governments operate illegally.   The FBI identifies sovereign citizens as a growing domestic threat to law enforcement.   Some of the actions of sovereign citizens include making false license plates, driver’s licenses and counterfeit currency.  The more extreme “sovereign citizens” become involved in more severe crimes and violent behavior, impersonating and or threatening law enforcement officers.   It is a movement fueled by the internet and seminars that spread this ideology.

“This arrest demonstrates how quickly an ordinary call or investigation can turn into something more dangerous,” said Barcelona.  “I’m am relieved that it ended as peacefully as it did, none of the rangers was hurt and the child is safe from harm.  Ranger Dan Perata did an exceptional job.”

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ABP World Group Risk Management

February 11, 2014

Source: Asahi.com

Globalization does not always bring about happy endings.

When an internationally married couple is going through a contentious divorce, in which country’s court of law should the dispute be resolved?

Currently, there is no clear rule on this matter. All the courts can do is to decide the jurisdiction depending on the case. This situation has long caused huge headaches for those involved.

Belatedly, Japan’s Justice Ministry has asked its advisory body, the Legislative Council, to come up with proposals on the issue. We hope the council will swiftly put together a set of easy-to-understand rules.

According to a survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, there were 16,000 divorces in Japan in 2012 involving a non-Japanese spouse. This is twice the figure of 20 years ago, and accounts for 7 percent of all divorces.

In the case of international divorces, the question of which country to seek legal recourse in is an important matter. Going through the legal process in a country with a foreign language and a foreign legal system is grueling work.

Even if the plaintiff is Japanese, there is no guarantee that the arbitration or trial can be held in Japan if the spouse resides in a foreign country. This is because consideration should be given to the spouse who would be the defendant in the case.

In Japan’s current legal system, the tentative basic rule is that court proceedings should be undertaken in the country of the defending spouse’s residence. There have been exceptions, however, when the defending foreign spouse is missing, for example. Japanese courts deal with such cases even if the defendant does not reside in Japan.

In some previous cases when the defendant was not in Japan, Japanese courts went ahead with legal proceedings on the grounds that the divorce approved by a court in the spouse’s country was invalid in Japan.

The individual situations of each divorce are so varied that setting uniform standards is a difficult process. This has long been considered an international conundrum since countries and cultures have different acceptance levels when it comes to divorce.

Unlike in Japan, where many couples divorce by agreement, divorce by trial is the usual procedure in a number of countries. Some countries basically do not allow divorce.

Given these factors, it would be inappropriate to create a system based only on Japan’s situation. A broad international perspective is necessary.

In recent years, parts of the European Union have attempted to establish common rules about jurisdiction of divorce court proceedings. Under these proposals, initial jurisdiction would be in the hands of the couple’s current country of residence, second jurisdiction would be in the country where the couple most recently lived together, and so on.

We need deeper discourse to decide what rules are appropriate for Japan. We would also have to contemplate sharing those rules with some countries.

The important thing is to establish standards that are as comprehensible and fair as possible to lighten the load of the parties involved and smooth their paths toward restarting their lives after divorce.

This is a cumbersome business, but the number of cross-border marriages and divorces will continue to grow. The endeavors of the legal system must not be left behind by changes in the real world.

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ABP World Group Risk Management

February 20, 2014

Source: daggerpress.com

Harford County Sheriff’s detectives have now located the mother and 5 year-old daughter, the subject of an earlier news release, who left their home together on or about January 10, 2014 without telling anyone where they were going causing family members to report the disappearance to police describing the mother’s behavior as “out of character”.

Amanda Deeann Mitchell, 29, of the 2900 block of Siwanoy Drive in Edgewood, was taken into custody without incident by the Fairfax County (VA) Police Department who advised Harford County Sheriff’s detectives they had also located the child at a local elementary school. Sanaa Bailey, 5, was evaluated and found to be in good health. There were no signs of abuse or neglect. The child will be returned to her biological father. Mitchell has been charged with one count of parental child abduction. She is currently incarcerated in Fairfax County pending an extradition hearing.

Detectives say Mitchell failed to drop the child off for scheduled visitation with the father on January 17th. Family members told police that Amanda has been known to stay in homeless shelters from time to time but her failure to allow visitation with the child’s biological father was atypical behavior. Mitchell has shared custody with the child’s father, Aaron Chester Bailey of Baltimore.

Sheriff’s Detective Tom Walsh said, “She [Amanda] had left the family home with the bare essentials and had taken the child with her”. He further explained that while police fully understood she is a custodial parent, her behavior was out of the norm for how people described her. Walsh would not go into detail as to how Fairfax County PD came to locate Mitchell suffice it to say detectives ran down numerous leads and shared information about Mitchell throughout the region.

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ABP World Group Risk Management

March 6 , 2014

ABP World Group Ltd.

Varannan dag blir ett barn bortfört i något av våra nordiska länder. Vi läser om det i tidningarna, på sociala medier och allt för ofta är kritiken gentemot våra myndigheter hård.

Inte sällan intar myndigheterna en position av bevakande art, där de hänvisar till polis, åklagarmyndighet och internationella överenskommelser som Haag konventionen. Om det land dit barnet blivit bortfört har skrivit under internationella överenskommelser finns åtminstone en möjlighet att få tillbaka sitt barn, men räkna med att det kommer kosta.

Stora summor går till advokatkostnader, resor och tid. Det är inte ovanligt att det förflyter både två och tre år innan det blir ett resultat, som efter så lång tid kan gå åt endera hållet. Finns inget överenskommet avtal med landet är sannolikheten obefintlig att få hem barnet med myndigheternas hjälp.

I dessa fall så finns det privata aktörer som specialiserat sig på att gå in och aktivt hjälpa till för att hitta en lösning. Det kan vara att gå in och förmedla, utöva påtryckningar eller helt enkelt lokalisera barnet och bistå den kvarlämnade föräldern aktivt i ett tillbakatagande. Det man alltid skall försöka uppnå är att ha den rättmätiga föräldern fysiskt på plats vid en sådan aktion. I alla fall när det måste gå till den nivån är för arbetet extremt viktigt.

Les hela historien LINK ( Aftonbladet )

VG TV: LINK

Skulle det finnas risker för att det kan bli våldsamt är det inte ett alternativ, utan det skall vara möjligt att utföra på säkra grunder. Vi på ABP World Group är ett av flera företag i branschen som erbjuder dessa tjänster och efter över 10 år med denna typ av fall är vi de första att beklaga att det finns en marknad för detta. Det vi gör är att erbjuda en aktiv möjlig lösning på ett problem som tyvärr har en potential att bli livslångt.

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ABP World Group Risk Management

March 11 , 2014

ABP World Group Child Recovery Services

Every other day a child is abducted in any of the Nordic countries. We read about it in the newspapers,
on social media and all too often the criticism of our government agencies is hard.

Frequently the authorities takes a position of a “guarding species”, referring to the police,  prosecutor and international agreements such as  the Hague Convention. If the country, to which the child has been abducted, has signed international agreements there is at least a chance to get the child back, but at a considerable cost.

Significant sums are spent on attorneys’ fees , travels and time. It’s not uncommon that two or three years goes by before you get a result which unfortunately, after all this time, can go in either way.

If there is no signed agreements with the country to which the child has been abducted, the probability of bringing  the child back home with the authorities’ help is nonexistent.

In these cases there are private operators who specializes in assisting the parent, who by court has been awarded custody and from whom the child has been abducted, in actively helping him/her to find a solution. It means that they for example can step in and mediate, coerce or simply locate the child and actively assist the parent in a retraction. What you must always try to achieve is to have the rightful parent physically present in such an action.

In all cases when it needs to go to this level, preparation and groundwork is extremely important.

The risk of  an intervention to get violent is not an option, all actions must be carried out in a safe and secure manner.

We at ABP World Group is one of several companies in the industry offering such services and with more than 10 years of experience we are the first to lament that there is a market for this. What we can do is to offer an active solution to a problem that unfortunately has a potential to be lifelong.

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ABP World Group Risk Management

ABP World Group will continue operating as a business to support our clients and left behind parents.

Please contact us for any security needs or support: Contact@abpworld.com

KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 — Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi defended today the police’s decision to ignore the alleged abduction of a boy by his Muslim convert father in Seremban, saying it was the Home Ministry’s “official stand” not to intervene.

“What has been mentioned by the IGP… that is the official stand by KDN,” he said at a press conference after speaking at the Putrajaya Forum 2014 here, referring to his ministry by its Malay initials.

Ahmad Zahid was asked to comment on criticisms against Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar who had last week said the police would not act on an abduction complaint against Izwan Abdullah because the latter was granted custody rights over his child by the Shariah Court.

Izwan, a Muslim convert previously known as N. Viran, had reportedly made off with his six-year-old son last Wednesday, two days after the Seremban High Court granted full custody of the boy and his nine-year-old sister to his estranged Hindu wife.

The court had awarded custody to S. Deepa, 30, as her marriage to Izwan, 31, in 2004 was a civil union and did not come under shariah law.

Despite a 2009 Cabinet prohibition of unilateral child conversions, Izwan made both his children embrace Islam last year, and later used their conversions as grounds to seek their custody in the Shariah Court.

It is understood that Izwan, a former lorry driver who currently works for an Islamic NGO called Yayasan Kasih Sayang, had converted both their children in April last year without Deepa’s consent.

Deepa, who filed for divorce and custody of the children in December last year, has been estranged from her husband since 2011.

The case is another in a series of inter-faith custody battles that highlight the complexities of Malaysia’s parallel civil and Shariah legal systems.

Legal experts have insisted that despite the conflicting decisions by the civil and shariah courts, the police’s refusal to act against Izwan’s alleged abduction of his son would only encourage more such cases in the future.

Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/minister-backs-igps-decision-to-ignore-seremban-child-abduction

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ABP World Group Risk Management