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Some notable points are as follows:
-In 2014, 781 abduction and access
cases were resolved, 273 involving Mexico, 33 cases involving Canada, 25 cases involving
the United Kingdom, 25 cases involving Germany, and the remaining 425 cases
involving various countries. The term “Resolved
Cases” generally refers to matters where a child is returned to his or her
place of habitual residence via the Hague Abduction Convention, the left-behind
parent reaches an voluntary agreement with the taking parent, the left-behind
parent submits a written request to withdraw their application, or when the
left-behind parent cannot be located/contacted for a period of one year.
-A total of 66 countries had 5 or more pending abduction cases involving the United States in some capacity during 2014. The report notes a number of recommendations that the U.S. Central Authority (USCA) suggests to improve resolutions to cases. The USCA most often recommended the promotion of public diplomacy and outreach activities through local embassies, consulate public affairs units, and consular sections to assist with resolution.
-In 2014, a total of 374 abducted
children were returned to the United States from around the world. 571 International Parental Child Abduction
cases were resolved in all countries and areas without the child’s return to
the United States during the same reporting year (this total includes countries
who are treaty partners with the United States under the Convention, bilateral
procedures countries, countries that have other procedures for resolving International
Parental Child Abductions, and countries that have no protocol for resolving International
Parental Child Abductions).
-On April 1, 2014, the Convention
entered into force between the United States and Japan. However, there are still more than 50
non-Convention cases of abduction to Japan, all of which predate Japan’s
ratification of the Convention. As of
December 31, 2014, U.S. left-behind parents have filed 31 Convention access
applications. None have resulted in
meaningful parental access or the return of a child to date.
-A “pattern of non-compliance” is
defined as the persistent failure of a country to implement and abide by
provisions of the Convention, the failure of a non-Convention country to abide
by bilateral procedures between such a country and the U.S., or of a non-Convention
country to work with the USCA to resolve abduction cases. Countries demonstrating
patterns of non-compliance in 2014 include: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Jordan,
Lebanon, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia,
Slovakia, The Bahamas, and Tunisia
-The
USCA reported on 18 countries where applications for return or access had
remained open for more than one year after the date of filing. They are: Argentina
(four cases), Brazil (fourteen cases), Canada (one case), Colombia (one case),
Costa Rica (two cases), Dominican Republic (two cases), Ecuador (one case),
France (one case) Honduras (one case), Israel (one case), Italy (two cases),
Mexico (fifty eight cases), Peru (nine cases), Poland (one case), The Bahamas
(two cases), Turkey (three cases), Ukraine (one case), and The United Kingdom
(one case).
The full report can be found here:
