US TARGETS FOREIGN OFFICIALS OVER OBSTRUCTION OF CHILD ABDUCTION CASES
Read Time:1 Minute, 17 Second
By: Fasasi Hammad
The United States has announced visa restrictions against individuals responsible for, or complicit in, obstructing the resolution of international parental child abduction cases, as well as certain members of their families.
The measure targets individuals who deliberately delay the resolution of such cases, prolong family separations and prevent children from being returned to the United States.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the visa restrictions in a statement on Monday, saying they would apply to culpable foreign government officials, judges, judicial administrators and law enforcement officials.
The restrictions also cover individuals who intentionally fail to implement or comply with laws, policies or court orders aimed at resolving child abduction cases and returning children to their country of habitual residence.
“This policy gives the Department a new accountability tool to press non-compliant countries to meet their obligations,” Rubio said.
He added that protecting American children abducted across international borders and reuniting them with their parents remains a priority of the Trump administration.
Parental child abduction is a felony under state laws across all 50 US states and is also a federal offence under the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act when a child is unlawfully taken abroad.
The international community addresses the issue through the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which the United States ratified in July 1988.
The treaty, adopted by 103 contracting parties comprising countries and territories, requires the prompt return of children who have been wrongfully removed from or retained outside their country of habitual residence.
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