Inclusion of parental child abduction into the new EU strategy on children’s rights

Inclusion of parental child abduction into the new EU strategy on children’s rights

Inclusion of parental child abduction into the new EU strategy on children’s rights 

For a child his parents are the most important people on the planet. Every child should be able to interact with his parents, as they are his lifeline. Unfortunately every year thousands of children in Europe are withdrawn from parental authority by one of their parents through international child abduction. My three children were amongst them. They entered Turkey for a holiday with their father on the 9th of March 2018, but were not returned afterwards. It took me 564 days, 30000 euros on court cases in the Netherlands and Turkey, police intervention and a lot of media attention to bring them home and I am not the only parent facing these issues. This example shows that although legislation and institutions are in place to solve issues with international child abduction, the operation of these procedures can still be much improved. Therefore, I urge the European Commission to include international child abduction by parents, as a focus area in the new EU strategy on children’s rights. The new EU strategy should specifically focus on; 1) avoiding child abduction, 2) enhancing and speeding up legal procedures, and 3) improving the enforcement of legal decisions.

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