WASHINGTON, D.C. /eNewsChannels/ — On May 1, 2012, the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction entered into force between the United States and Singapore. We welcome Singapore as our partner to the Convention and look forward to working together on this critical issue. The United States now partners with 69 countries under the Convention.
The Hague Abduction Convention is the primary civil law mechanism for parents seeking the return of and access to their abducted children from other treaty partner countries. The Convention is critically important because it establishes a formalized diplomatic channel through which partner countries can cooperate on international parental child abduction and establishes an internationally recognized legal framework to resolve parental abduction issues. The Convention does not address who should have custody of the child; it addresses where the custody case should be heard.
The U.S. Department of State, as the Central Authority for the United States, congratulates Singapore’s Central Authority, the Ministry of Community and Development, Youth and Sports, for this accomplishment. As more countries in Asia are joining the Hague Abduction Convention, we are pleased to see Singapore serving as a role model in the region. Increasingly, countries recognize the potential effectiveness of the Hague Abduction Convention, not only in resolving cases of international parental child abduction, but also in deterring future abductions.
For more information about children’s issues, please visit: ChildrensIssues.state.gov or on Twitter: @ChildrensIssues .
