California Divorce Blog–Parental Child Abduction

November 17, 2010 by Keith F. Simpson

http://www.lacountyfamilylaw.com

It is disappointing that President Obama passed on an opportunity to discuss with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan the epidemic of Parental Child Abductions in Japan.  After all, did not President Obama run on the platform of Change?  It appears that President Obama’s inaction in Japan signals the status quo will remain as policy for the present.

New Jersey Congressman, Rep. Chris Smith, urged President Obama prior to the trip to raise the “heartbreaking” issue of Parental Child Abduction with the Japanese Prime Minister.  Presently, Japan remains the only G-7 industrialized nation that has yet to accede to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The Hague Convention has been adopted by more than 70 countries and is an important tool for those seeking access to and/or the return of a child abducted across international borders.

France recently passed a Resolution condemning Japan for its policy of not only allowing Parental Child Abduciton to occur but actually tolerating the policy.  According to The Japan Children’s Rights Network, Japan has never returned a child brought there by a parent in violation of a United States custody order.  This statement is also supported by the U.S. Department of State website.

Recently the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1326 “Calling on the Government of Japan to immediately…provide left-behind parents immediate access to their children”. Congressional members condemned Japan for permitting human rights abuse against children, denying them the love of a parent, relatives and friends.  Read the full text of H. Res. 1326 by clicking on this link. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.RES.1326:  The final vote passed on the Congressional floor.  Now it has been moved to the U.S. Senate for consideration.

I believe that Parental Child Abductions  are currently allowed to occur because most people are not aware of this epidemic.  It is only through blogs such as this as well as the public statements from Representatives, and websites like CRNJapan.net that the public will become aware.  I believe we will see outrage over families being torn apart because of Japanese public policy.  Japanese law must be changed to recognize foreign child custody orders as is the case in all other First World Nations.  President Obama once again had a chance to address this issue with the Japanese Prime Minister, but failed all American Left Behind Parents by letting this golden opportunity slip by.