The Foreign Service Journal, April 2003

learned of the pickup, the case officer called the mother. Her excitement was obvious, even over the telephone. Meanwhile, the social worker explained to Billy that, although his father had told him his mother was dead, she was actually alive and well and eager to see him. The mother was put in contact with the Australian social worker and the important job of reunification with her son was initiat- ed: first by e-mail, then by telephone. A Hague hearing was scheduled for early August, and Mom traveled to Australia at the end of June to become reacquainted with her son. A week before the hearing, Billy’s new step- father flew out to Australia and quickly bonded with the child. Further documents were needed for the Hague hearing, which required coordination with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the State Department’s Visa Office, the Georgia attorney, and the FBI agent. But all the work paid off. On Aug. 7, 2002, the Australian Court ordered Billy’s return to the United States, telling the abducting father, “You are an affront to all that is civilized.” Billy, his mother and stepfather returned to the United States immediately after the hearing. The father remains in detention in Australia and has filed an appeal of the Hague ruling. A High Priority Billy’s story had a happy ending, but not all do. Hundreds of children are abducted by a parent and taken abroad each year. The State Department is committed to resolving as many of these cases as possible. At the recent swearing-in ceremony of Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Maura Harty, both she and Secretary of State Colin Powell stressed that the issue of international parental child abductions remains a high priority for the bureau and the department. And they have backed up their words with actions. • In December 2002, at Assistant Secretary Harty’s request, CI sent over 500 letters to the left-behind parents involved in current outgoing cases ask- ing them to indicate if they would be interested in meeting Assistant Secretary Harty to discuss internation- al child custody issues. • Assistant Secretary Harty traveled to Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Syria in early January 2003 to meet with gov- ernment officials to discuss child cus- tody and access issues. Future trips to other regions are already in the works. • On Feb. 24, 2003, Assistant Secretary Harty met with over 70 left- behind parents from all over the United States in Washington, D.C. Speakers fromCI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the FBI and the Department of Justice’s Office of Victim Assistance told what each of their agencies did to assist left-behind parents, followed by a Q&A session. The parents expressed their thoughts, ideas and suggestions during brainstorming sessions on the Hague Convention and related topics. The final session on coping with the temporary loss of a child was led by a professional grief therapist. Future meetings will be arranged in other parts of the country in conjunction with Assistant Secretary Harty’s visits to passport agencies and attendance at other outreach events. • State is also increasing efforts to reach bilateral arrangements regarding child custody issues, especially with countries who are not party to the Hague Abduction Convention. For example, CI management, the CI case officer for Egypt and the regional bureau desk officer for Egypt recently met in Washington with a special dele- gation of government officials from Cairo to discuss ways to improve coop- eration in handling such cases. At the working level, much progress has been made since the last article profiling State’s efforts to resolve international child abduction cases appeared in the November 2000 Foreign Service Journal. For starters, CI’s staffing pattern has increased. In addition to the office director and deputy director, there are 11 case offi- cers (both Foreign and Civil Service), an Abduction Branch Chief and sup- port staff. In 2002, a weeklong training program was developed for new case officers to ensure they can provide a high level of customer service. There are also bimonthly continuing educa- tion seminars. Portfolios are based on workload rather than geographic bureau. An internal analysis in January 2003 showed an average of 66 active cases of children abducted from the U.S. to a foreign country per CI case officer. Each officer handles an average of 10 to 15 incoming calls daily, occasionally receiving a report of an abduction in progress, where a child is actually in the process of being removed from the U.S. In some cases, coordination with law enforcement, airport, immigration and/or customs authorities can delay the departure of the child, but all too often this is not feasible. Case officers also stay in close contact with left-behind parents, law enforcement authorities and attor- neys, update case files, draft and revise flyers on child custody and Hague procedures for the countries 58 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 0 3 New Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Maura Harty and Secretary of State Colin Powell have backed up their words on child abductions with actions.