To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many international parental abduction cases had been raised with his Department between (a) March 2018 and March 2019, (b) March 2019 to March 2020 and (c) March 2020 to March 2021.
Answered on
22 March 2021
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) treats reports of international parental child abduction very seriously. We work closely with authorities in the United Kingdom and abroad to assist the return of children to their place of habitual residence. Details of the assistance the FCDO provides can be found in the international parental child abduction guidance on gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-parental-child-abduction/international-parental-child-abduction). In the 2018/19 financial year, 270 cases of international parental child abduction were raised with the FCDO with a further 267 cases raised in the following financial year, 2019/20. To date in this financial year, covering the period of April 2020 to February 2021, 144 international parental child abduction cases have been raised with the FCDO.