How many U.S. children have been kidnapped to Japan?
More than 500 since 1994 when the U.S. Department of State's Office of Children's Issue's (OCI) was established. Japan is internationally known as a black hole for child abduction.

Where does this 500+ figure come from?
It comes from data provided by the U.S. Department of State. Representative Chris Smith reported at the May 24, 2011 hearing in the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, “Japan has by far the worst record of all. It has not issued and enforced the return order for a single one of the more than 321 American children abducted there since 1994, when the recordkeeping began.”[1]
​
321 was also the figure reported to us in our July 2011 meeting with OCI by then director Beth Payne along with then Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Kurt Campbell.

At this meeting we requested updated figures dating back to 1994. On August 25, 2011 parents of children kidnapped to Japan received a response stating, "As of August 19, 2011, that statistic is 268 cases involving 374 children."

BAC Home added the figures from the State Department's 2011-2013 Outgoing Case Reports[2] and the annual reports to Congress[3] required by the Goldman Act for the years that followed. 2011 was prorated from August 22 - December 31, 2011 after incorporating the figures from 1994 through August 21, 2011 provided in the response email from then Office of Children's Issues Division Chief, Stephanie Eye.

How many U.S. children have been abducted within Japan? 
It is difficult to obtain an exact number. Based on divorce and childbirth rates in Japan, estimates range from hundreds to 10,000. 

Is the Government of Japan helping?
Japan consistently fails to return kidnapped children or provide access between the abducted child and parent. Court orders in Japan are unenforceable without the voluntary compliance of the kidnapping parent who has no incentive to comply. In a meeting with Embassy of Japan officials in May 2018 to discuss if there is any genuine path for Japan to reunite parents with kidnapped children, we were told, "Your access (to your children) depends on the mother and child's wishes."[4] The Government of Japan has ceded all control to the kidnapping parent. They have also been caught providing advice on how to abduct and circumvent a Hague Abduction Convention return order.[5]
[1] May 24, 2011 House FA Subcommittee hearing transcript, "INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION: BROKEN LAWS AND BEREAVED LIVES",  page 2, https://chrissmith.house.gov/uploadedfiles/2011.05.24_international_child_abduction_-_broken_laws_and_bereaved_lives.pdf
[2] 2011-2013 Outgoing Cases,
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/International-Parental-Child-Abduction/for-providers/legal-reports-and-data/data.html
[3] Annual Reports on International Child Abduction, 2015 (for CY2014), 2016 (for CY2015), 2017 (for CY2016), 2018 (for CY2017), 2019 (for CY2018),  2020 (for CY2019), 2021(for CY2020), 2022 (for CY2021), 2023 (for CY2022), 2024 (for CY2023) and 2025 for (CY2024),
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/International-Parental-Child-Abduction/for-providers/legal-reports-and-data/reported-cases.html
[4] December 10, 2018 House FA Subcommittee hearing transcript, "REVIEWING INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION",
page 11, https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA16/20181210/108779/HHRG-115-FA16-Transcript-20181210.pdf
[5] From a published recording of a public seminar co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, "Caught! Japan Seminar On How To Abduct", http://www.bachome.org/news/caught-japan-seminar-on-how-to-abduct

Nafeesa Ali Ismail is an adult survivor of International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) who testified to Congress on September 10, 2024. At the age of seven, she was abducted by her father from New Jersey to Northern Egypt, where she remained for the next 10 years.

She testified, "When I wasn’t in school, I mainly stayed in my room— imagining someone from the United States government would knock on the door and ask for me. I know other survivors like me also had this silly dream. I became depressed, lost hope that I would return to the United States, and attempted suicide multiple times."

After returning home in February 2021, she dedicated her life to helping other children and young adult survivors of international child abduction. She continued, "It has been three years since my return, and I am grateful to be back home in the United States. I have experienced a lot, learned many things, and grown tremendously, but the way I returned, home still makes me feel out of place. When I was in Egypt, I needed the support of my government to come home, but I didn’t really get it."

In 2024, Nafeesa was appointed as Youth Ambassador to iStand Survivor Network, an NGO dedicated to empowering youth survivors of parental child abduction and to providing support, resources, and a safe community for those who have experienced the trauma of being separated from a parent due to abduction.

Hearing documents for, "The Goldman Act Turns 10: Holding Hague Convention Violators Accountable and Bringing Abducted American Children Home," are available on the U.S. House Committee Repository website.

Washington, D.C. - The abduction of American children to Japan continues to be a pressing humanitarian issue that demands urgent attention and action. In a May 22, 2024 House Foreign Affairs hearing, U.S. Representative Chris Smith called upon Secretary Antony Blinken to prioritize the plight of over 500 American children who have been kidnapped to Japan since 1994.

The US Supreme Court States recognized that family abduction is a form of child abuse with potentially “devastating consequences for a child”, which may include negative impacts on the physical and mental well-being of the child. It may cause a child to “experience a loss of community and stability, leading to loneliness, anger, and fear of abandonment”

While the Government of Japan seeks and receives assistance from the United States in resolving the 1977-1983 kidnappings of 17 Japanese citizens to North Korea, it has neglected the suffering of American families grappling with the abduction of their children to Japan. This glaring disparity in treatment underscores the urgent need for Japan to reciprocate the assistance provided by the U.S. by actively engaging in efforts to reunite these American victims with their parents in the United States. Despite repeated appeals from affected American families, there has been a notable lack of acknowledgment or action on their behalf.

In a recent development, on April 18, 2024, the Associated Press reported a meeting between U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield met with five Japanese relatives of the abductees to North Korea and told them, “The United States stands with all the families, with all of Japan and with the international community in pressing for a resolution that will allow all families separated by the regime’s policies to be reunited.”

She furthered, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is committed to raising the abduction issue “at every opportunity and calling for the return of abducted Japanese citizens to their family,” the ambassador said, adding that America sticks to that policy regardless of the leadership.

Last month Representative Smith handed a letter directly to Prime Minister Kishida, seeking a public commitment to reunite these families. It the letter he wrote, “Mr. Prime Minister, there is no doubt that child abduction is a form of child abuse. Children who are kidnapped by one parent to live overseas and kept away from another are at grave risk of serious mental trauma, and may experience anxiety, eating disorder, nightmares, mood swings, sleep disturbances, aggressive behavior, resentment, guilt, and fearfulness.”
​
“Regrettably, the abduction of American children to your country remains an ongoing human rights crisis that cannot be sidelined or overlooked.” 

This originally appeared as a ​press release from U.S. Congressman Chris Smith. FOX News ran a story, "GOP lawmaker demands action from Japan PM on key issue impacting hundreds of US children abroad" the following week.

Multiple amendments were addressed including the need to expand the annual report on "International Child Abduction to include a full accounting for
all kidnapped children and not just open cases."  The entire hearing is available on C-SPAN and on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee.

(Geneva) This week I formally briefed the United Nations Human Rights Committee on parental child abduction and loss of access within and to Japan during a private session. ​

Many important issues had been presented in earlier years regarding Japan, but our team was successful in making a compelling argument resulting in the committee asking questions of the Japanese Government delegation on day one of the public sessions. From the first round of questions, "the Committee was concerned about reports of parental child abductions in Japan. What measures were in place to respond to these issues?" The delegation from Japan ignored the question causing a committee expert to request an answer on day two.

In claiming they've been deliberating parental authority and visitation since March 2021, Japan's answer was inadequate. They failed to respond to the point from our report and briefing that exposed the July 2022 Ministry of Justice's report by the Family Law Reform Commission included NO countermeasure against Parental Child Abduction.

Their other response was limited to incoming and outgoing Hague Abduction Convention case figures and claiming they offer a list of attorneys, potential legal aid and ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution, a type of non-binding mediation). Here against they failed to fully respond to the question and scope of the issue that includes a much larger domestic parental child abduction and loss of access crisis than Hague cases alone.

For Immediate Release
March 30, 2022
Contacts:
Tom Mentzer (Feinstein) 202-224-9629
Adam Webb (Tillis) 202-224-6342
 
Feinstein, Tillis Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Designating April as ‘Countering International Parental Child Abduction Month’
 
          Washington—Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) today led their colleagues in introducing a resolution designating April 2022 as “Countering International Parental Child Abduction Month.”
 
            Hundreds of American children are abducted by one of their parents without consent of the other parent and taken to foreign countries every year. In 2020, there were 246 new cases of parental child abductions, half of which were in California.
 
            “Parental abduction of a child to a foreign country is a traumatic experience. It is incredibly challenging to reunite these children with their custodial parents, and the children face mental, emotional and physical harm,” said Senator Feinstein. “I’m proud to again lead this resolution with Senator Tillis to help shine a spotlight on this harrowing and complex problem. We must continue to raise awareness of international parental child abduction and do all we can to prevent it.”
 
            “Since 2010, almost 10,000 American children have been reported abducted and taken abroad in order to obstruct their left-behind parent’s custody rights,” said Senator Tillis. “The federal government has tools to prevent the abduction and secure the return of our American citizen-children, and it is past time to use them. I am proud to co-introduce this resolution to demonstrate to the executive branch that the Senate is serious about ending international parental child abduction and will work to combat this crime until every single American child is returned home.”
 
            In addition to Feinstein and Tillis, the resolution is cosponsored by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

By Irina Hasala
Journalist, newspaper Helsingin Sanomat | World news

(Japan) Thousands of children are taken out of reach of their other parent each year in Japan. Tapio Tarvas lost contact with his daughter. Jeffery Morehouse, an American, did not get his son back even by court order.

In 2008, Tapio Tarvas was waiting for his Japanese spouse and their baby to return to Finland. After weeks of silence, Tarvas received a message: she would stay with their daughter in Japan. Permanently.
 
"My ex-wife said she might come when the child was four or five. It was a mental breakdown for me." Tarvas only met his daughter again when she was 8 years old.
 
According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child should have contact with both parents after separation, unless it is harmful to the child.
 
However, in the case of Mr. Tarvas and thousands of Japanese couples, this agreement is not being honored. In Japan, it is estimated that more than 100,000 children lose contact with one of their parents every year.

The international cases have also become a diplomatic embarrassment for Japan. In its 2019 assessment, the UN found Japan to be lacking in child rights and recommended, among other things, the creation of a co-parenting law.
 
There are also shortcomings in their implementation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which Japan ratified in 2014. For example, the United States has repeatedly found Japan in breach of the Hague Abduction Convention.
 
John Gomez, president of the Kizuna Child-Parent Reunion Organization in Japan, has been helping parents who have lost contact with their children for 12 years.
 
He says the problem lies at the heart of Japanese law. Japan is the only G7 country and, with Turkey, the only OECD country that does not recognize joint custody after divorce.
 
"In Japanese family law, custody is in practice always given to the parent who has the children at the time."
 
In Japan, it is not a crime to take a child away from one parent in secret, although in many other countries it is defined as child abduction. On the contrary, the person who has possession of the child is in practice considered to be the guardian, even if the other parent has not agreed to part with the child.
 
Gomez stresses that, although the proportion of abductions is unknown, the system that allows the loss of access is a significant problem.
 
"I estimate that around 150,000 children lose contact with their other parent in Japan every year."

Mr. Gomez's calculation is based on divorce statistics from the Japan administration[1] and surveys of divorced families by various agencies. They show that around 66% of children do not see a non-custodial parent after divorce.
 
This was also stated by Yuko Nishitani, Professor of International Law at Kyoto University, and Noriko Odagiri, Professor of Clinical Psychology at Tokyo International University, at a seminar of the German Institute for Japanese Studies in 2019.
 
US citizen John Gomez has been in contact with around 200 Japanese and foreign parents who have lost contact with their child. According to Mr. Gomez, the country's legislation and the loss of access comes as a surprise to many parents.
 
Tapio Tarvas was not familiar with Japan's family law and did not discuss custody issues with his father before the divorce.
 
"We were aware of the challenges, because when we had the child we didn't have a long relationship or a common culture."
 
The couple had met in Finland a few years before the birth of the child, and married after finding out about the pregnancy.
 
They had planned to live together in Finland, but the mother wanted the child to be born in Japan. The couple returned to Finland together with their newborn.
 
When they soon travelled to Japan again at his then wife’s request, Tarvas flew home before his family for an entrance exam.
 
After their child's mother informed him that she was staying in Japan with the child, Tarvas was not able to reach her. He received help from Kaapatut Lapset Ry, the Finnish organization that helps parents and children in abduction cases and other similar cases. Kaapatut Lapset Ry contacted the correct authority, Consular Affairs Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
 
"The unit was able to contact the mother of my daughter through the Japanese consulate."
 
Eventually, Tarvas went to Japan to meet his child with his own mother. Contrary to his expectations, they were able to arrange a meeting, and some sort of connection was established. The daughter visited Finland twice before the coronavirus pandemic.
 
However, contact has been intermittent. She is now thirteen and, contrary to his wishes, her father rarely hears from her.
 
"Tears come to my eyes every time I think of her."
 
Tarvas has not sought access to justice. The process would be long and the outcome uncertain.
 
For US citizen Jeffery Morehouse, even the Japanese court's decision didn't bring a child back, after his Japanese ex-spouse abducted his six-year-old son from the US to Japan in 2010.
 
Before the parents separated, the family had problems that left Morehouse with custody of the boy.
 
"She was still allowed to see our son, but the court order would have prevented her from holding his passport or travelling with him out of state," says Jeffery Morehouse of his status with his Japanese ex-wife.
 
On US Father's Day, 20 June 2010, Morehouse took his son to visit the mother by appointment,
 
"It was the last time I ever saw him."
 
According to Morehouse, the mother had obtained a passport for the child from the Japanese consulate in another state and disappeared with the boy to her home country.
 
In Japan, the mother sought custody of the boy in court. The court rejected Morehouse's ex-wife's claims for legal custody in 2014 and physical custody in 2017.
 
"However, the court ruled that because the mother has visitation rights, the situation where our son remains held by his mother was left intact," says Morehouse.
 
John Gomez, chairman of the Kizuna organization, says he knows of many other cases where a Japanese court ruling does not ultimately lead to the children being reunited or returned.
 
The courts have no power to enforce the right of access.
 
The European Parliament accused Japan of breaching international treaties in a resolution in July 2020, which was worked on by four organizations from different linguistic areas of the EU that assist in child abduction cases.
 
Björn Echternach from Germany was also involved. He says his wife abducted the couple's two sons to Japan in 2017.
 
According to Mr. Echternach, the children were ordered to be returned from Japan in September 2018. It was the first Hague Convention return order for children from an EU country. Despite this, Mr. Echternach has not seen his children for four and a half years.
 
"I don't even know if they are alive," says Echternach.
 
Tarvas, Morehouse and Echternach all speak of the ongoing trauma of losing contact. They are reminded of their child from various everyday things, which provokes a strong emotional reaction.
 
Above all, however, they stress the consequences of separation for the child.
 
"There is a huge body of research evidence that it is better for the child to have contact with both parents," says Echternach.
 
In Japan, this is beginning to be recognized, although it is being achieved in very small steps, says Kyosuke Morimoto. He is an IT professional who, through divorce and custody disputes, has become a volunteer helping broken families.
 
Morimoto recognizes the problems in the system and the need for change.
 
"In Japan, it is very easy to end up in a destructive divorce," says Morimoto.
 
He highlights the underlying factors: the movement for gender equality has not progressed in the same way as in the West, and there is a fear of losing face.
 
"In Japan, the man is still seen as the breadwinner and the woman as the caretaker of the home and children. Many also hold on to marriages for a long time because they are afraid of what divorce would look like in the eyes of others."
 
According to Morimoto, the idea of a father longing for his children is still relatively new in Japan. Joint custody has partly turned into a men's rights issue, driven by conservative parties.
​
"The only party that has put joint custody on its pamphlet is controversially the conservative party Japan Innovation Party [Nippon Ishin no Kai]," says Morimoto.
 
On the other hand, liberals and feminists have opposed shared custody, citing intimate partner violence.
​
"Some opponents of shared custody lump together all parents who have lost contact with their children into one violent group," says Morimoto.
 
A system for assessing incidents of domestic violence is completely lacking in Japan, said Professor Noriko Odagiri in the Washington Post.
 
Morimoto himself was constantly at work and otherwise away from home during his marriage. In the end, his wife took their two children to a new home without his knowledge.
 
The legal proceedings over custody were long and contentious, and also affected the children, whom Morimoto was allowed to see once a month.
 
After six years, however, the daughter has a room in both parents' homes and relations with the son have also improved.
 
"Even in this old-fashioned and divisive system, my ex-wife and I were finally able to come to an agreement."
 
Morimoto believes progress is possible but slow.

Background
For international child abduction cases to Japan a total of 425 Hague Abduction Convention applications were filed with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 2014 and 2020: 271 return applications and 154 applications for access rights. The Finnish Central Authority, Ministry of Justice, is aware of one application for access rights under the Hague Abduction Convention, which was later withdrawn.

The Organization for Abducted Children has four cases from 2013-2021 where a Finnish parent was denied access to a child who had been taken to or left behind in Japan.
 
The organization Japan Child Abduction, represented by Björn Echternach, represents 9 parents in German-speaking countries in Europe who have lost or fear losing contact with a total of 11 children.
 
The US Department of State reports several child abductions to Japan each year.
 
From the annual reports mentioned above, the US-based organization Bring Abducted Children Home has counted around 60 child abduction cases to Japan since 2014.
 
The same reports indicate that in 2020, a total of 68 abduction cases marked as "resolved" in Japan were not returned.
 
In total, more than 470 children have been abducted from the US to Japan, according to Bring Abducted Children Home based on US Government data.
 
According to the organizations, many cases are also not included in the statistics, for example, because of Japan settlement decisions, children coming of age and informal settlements between parents.
 
► Sources. Abducted Children Association, Björn Echternach, US Department of State, Bring Abducted Children Home.
 
Japan is bound by international agreements
 
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child or UNCRC
The agreement was ratified by Japan in 1994.
Articles 9 and 10 require respect for "the right of the child to maintain a personal relationship and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis", unless this is contrary to the best interests of the child.
The right also applies when the parents live in different states.
Applies to children under 18 years of age.
 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or Hague Abduction Convention
Japan ratified the agreement in 2014.
Applies to cases where a child has been removed from his or her country of habitual residence to another country without authorization or is not being returned to his or her country of residence.
The parent can apply for the return of the child or arranging and securing the rights to access.
Does not take a position on child custody.
Applies to children under 16 years of age.
► Sources: Unicef, Hague Conference on Private International Law, Ministry of Justice of Finland
_________________________
[1] Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare

The article originally appeared in print in ​Finnish which is available below. The English version was machine translated from the online version of the article published by Helsingin Sanomat and reviewed by the journalist and our team.

By Yuki Sato
​Yomiuri Shimbun, Staff Writer

An increasing number of foreign nationals are claiming that their children have been abducted by their current or former Japanese spouse, following the breakdown of their marriage. Not allowing a child to see one of their parents is considered a criminal act in major European countries and the United States, leading to a diplomatic conflict in which Japan is being called on to revise its laws.

An Italian man in his 40s who lives in the Kanto region recently told The Yomiuri Shimbun that his wife, who lives in a regional area, “kidnapped” their child. His wife took the child back to her parents’ home at the end of 2016 and never returned, claiming that the man had subjected her to domestic violence.

The man denied this allegation during his interview with the Yomiuri. He stressed that although he regrets that he was too busy with his work to be there for his wife when she was mentally overwhelmed by child-rearing, that does not justify her kidnapping the child.

He said he wants his child to have contact with his homeland and family, and to know that they have roots in Italy, too. The man also said he wants to live with his child.
In 2017, the man filed a petition with a family court and was given permission to see his child for two hours every month. When his wife still refused to allow them to meet, the family court ordered her to pay a fine in autumn 2021. The man finally was able to see his child for the first time in a long while at the end of November.
​
However, as a condition for future visits, the wife told the man not to ask the child how he or she has been, or give the child a gift. Ill feelings still remain between the man and his wife.
Many foreigners claim their children were abducted by their Japanese former spouse or another person.

Bring Abducted Children Home, a U.S. nongovernmental organization established in 2011, says that at least 475 American children have been abducted. A British NGO claims that about 1,400 British children have been removed from their parents.

These cases include situations in which both parents were living in Japan, and those in which a Japanese spouse took a child to Japan after his or her marriage with an American or a British person broke down overseas.

The Tokyo-based NPO Kizuna Child-Parent Reunion said it has been consulted by about 100 people in 10 countries over the abduction issue. Chairman John Gomez said neither the government nor the people of Japan are aware that taking a child away from a parent is wrong.
Behind this problem are differences in the legal systems of Japan and other countries regarding the custody of children.

Under Japan’s Civil Code, only one parent is allowed to have custody after a divorce. However, in the United States and many European countries, parents retain joint custody over their children and share the responsibility for raising them even after a divorce. If one parent takes the child away and refuses to allow the other to see them, it is often considered a criminal act.

There are also differences in how problems related to child custody are handled.

According to Masayuki Tanamura, a professor of family law at Waseda University, in countries with a joint custody system, the police intervene when a child is abducted by one parent or another person, and criminal penalties can be applied if a parent is prevented from seeing a child.

“In the United States and European countries, divorce is concluded with the involvement of the court, but in Japan, divorce is largely left up to the couples. This makes it difficult to apply criminal penalties even if a problem occurs, such as the abduction of a child by one of the parents. It’s dismissed as a ‘family problem,'” Tanamura said.

Some countries are applying diplomatic pressure on Japan at the strong request of NGOs and other groups.

At the end of September, U.S. Republican congressman Chris Smith said at a public hearing that Japanese laws do not punish parents who abscond with their children, but even reward them with custody.

Smith also said legislation is being prepared that will allow the United States to take action against Japan, including sanctions.

In July 2020, the EU’s European Parliament adopted a resolution urging the Japanese government to introduce a joint custody system, saying it is concerned about the high number of child abductions by Japanese people.

France has also taken a tough stance. At the end of November, a French court issued an arrest warrant for a Japanese woman who used to be married to a French man living in Japan, on the grounds that her failure to allow the man to visit their child for many years after the breakdown of their marriage can be considered a form of kidnapping.

Shinji Nozawa, a professor of family sociology at Meiji Gakuin University, has called for the introduction of a joint custody system in Japan, saying that the single custody system symbolizes the “Galapagos syndrome” in Japan, as it deviates from global standards.

Since around the 1980s, many countries have introduced joint custody systems from the perspective of respecting the rights of children. They are believed to have taken into consideration the fact that if only one parent has custody, the child may suffer financial or psychological harm.
In Japan, the division of labor based on gender progressed during the period of rapid economic growth, and the perception that only the mother is responsible for child-rearing took root. Nozawa said, “The misconception that children should be raised alone after the breakdown of a marriage has spread in society.”

There is no lack of discussion in Japan on introducing a joint custody system. Since March, the Family Law Subcommittee of the Legislative Council has been holding regular meetings to review the Civil Code and divorce systems.

However, there is strong opinion that the matter should be considered carefully, mainly because the introduction of a joint custody system will make it difficult to protect victims of domestic violence. Under such a system, a perpetrator of domestic violence could learn where their victims live, for example, when a child is brought to meet the perpetrator.

According to lawyer Makiko Ishii, even if domestic violence occurs, it usually takes a long time in Japan to get court-imposed protection orders that prohibit offenders from approaching the victim’s home or place of work, based on the law on the prevention of spousal violence and protection of victims. And with only a few exceptions, psychological abuse is not used as grounds for protection orders, “We need adequate support for domestic violence victims first. Introducing a joint custody system without such support would be very harmful,” Ishii said.

The original article was published and posted online by The Japan News on January 3, 2022.

The article was previously published in Japanese on December 16, 2021 by The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Excerpt is from the 3:49:30 mark of the full Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing video.

(Washington, D.C.) The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission led by co-chairs Rep. Christopher H. Smith and Rep. James P. McGovern convened for a hearing on “The Rights of Parents and Children: How to Better Implement the Goldman Act on Child Abduction.” 

The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes that “the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.”  It further provides “that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will.”
​
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction came about to address those circumstances where a child, in distinction to the afore-mentioned principles contained in the CRC, is separated from one parent via cross-border abduction. 

Between 2008 and 2020, more than 12,350 American children were abducted internationally by a parent, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Congress passed the Sean and David Goldman Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act (P.L. 113-150) in 2014, to better implement the Hague Convention, to provide a means to resolve abduction cases among non-Hague countries, and to hold countries accountable for non-compliance with their obligations.  While the Convention has helped shaped international norms, only 85 nations plus the European Union have ratified it, and some States Parties are not fully compliant.  The Goldman Act provides Congress with data regarding child abductions and authorizes tools for the State Department to use to influence countries to abide by international obligations.

The purpose of this hearing is to assess how well the State Department is implementing the Goldman Act to resolve international parental child abduction cases.  The hearing will include testimony from prominent international family law attorney whose work informed the drafting of the Goldman Act, and left-behind parents who have subsequently dedicated themselves to advocating for the rights of victims of international parental child abduction.

Testifying were:

• Patricia Apy, International Family Law Attorney, Paras, Apy and Reiss
  Written testimony
• Jeffery Morehouse, Executive Director, Bring Abducted Children Home
  Written testimony
• Noelle Hunter, PhD., Founder, iStand Parent Network
  Written testimony

The announcement and hearing video were originally posted on the commission's website.

"Seventeen men and women, including three children in their teens and 20s, filed a class action lawsuit regarding parenting time (visitation) with the Tokyo District Court on the 11th of November 2020, seeking ¥100,000 in damages from the government of Japan for parents and children separated due to divorce or other reasons, claiming that they were forced to suffer due to inadequate laws and that their basic human rights, which are guaranteed by the Constitution, have been violated. According to the plaintiffs, this is the first time that children have become plaintiffs in a lawsuit over parenting time, and a man and woman living in Chiba Prefecture are also among the plaintiffs."

The U.S. Congressional Research Service's released a new report on international parental child abduction. Here are a few highlights-

​“Some Members of Congress have consistently posed questions as to the most effective means of improving foreign government compliance with IPCA standards and processes, and have at times criticized the State Department for refusing to implement potentially more coercive foreign policy tools, such as sanctions. Such arguments have informed several instances in which high-level engagement, coupled with threats to foreign countries’ economic or trading benefits, appears to have preceded the resolution of certain IPCA cases.”

“Many experts and policymakers agree that international displacement of a child from his or her home environment to another, with potentially different social structures, cultures, and languages, can cause emotional and psychological harm to the child.”

“Responding to this issue, Congress has enacted legislation pertaining to IPCA, engaged in individual cases of abducted children, and conducted oversight of executive branch actions in this area. Congress has held 11 hearings on the subject since 2014, and some Members have on occasion blocked legislation unrelated to IPCA until specific cases were resolved.”

Outlook
"IPCA will likely continue to be a significant issue for American citizens and U.S. foreign policy, leading Congress to consider options for addressing specific cases and to pursue the broader foreign policy efforts to address this problem. As it considers policy options, Congress may examine the potential and alleged impacts of sanctions, technical assistance, and high-level outreach on compliance and on countries’ willingness to accede to the Hague Convention. In recent years, Congress has raised legislative options for strengthening the U.S. response to IPCA. It may continue to engage this issue through public hearings, direct involvement in specific cases, legislation, and oversight of the State Department Office of Children’s Issues."

Excerpts are from the Congressional Research Service's report on International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA): Foreign Policy Responses and Implications. This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress.

For the second year in a row, international partners of the G7 Kidnapped to Japan Reunification Project wrote to representatives of the G7 countries in advance of the 45th G7 summit that will be held on August 24-26, 2019 in Biarritz, France. The international alliance is comprised of parents and organizations from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The immediate objective is to put the Japanese parental child abduction issue on the G7 Summit agenda and bring about a rapid resolution to this crisis affecting the human rights of thousands of children abducted to or within Japan.

Since the letter was sent on April 24, 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte have made statements to the press on the abduction crisis to and within Japan. President Macron confirmed he has raised the issue with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. 

Congress United for Action: Strive to Return America’s Stolen Children
​U.S. Capitol, S-115

Formal Remarks
Members of Congress (Invited)
​
International Parental Child Abduction:  A Unifying Issue for Congress

Use the Tools 
Accountability and Returns Under the Goldman Act

International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act of 1993
Improving Victim Response and Charging Rates under federal IPKA statutes

Two Teen Survivors Share Their Experiences

Count Children, Not Cases
Affecting Data-Driven Solutions in the Departments of State and Justice
 
What American Families Need from Congress
Congressional Solutions through Casework, Legislation and Oversight
 
Speakers:
Dr. Noelle Hunter, mother of an American child abducted to Mali
Co-founder and President of iStand Parent Network and Coalition Partner
view written remarks

Ravi Parmar, father of an American child abducted to India
Co-founder of Bring Our Kids Home and Coalition Partner

Jerry Pfeifer, survivor of international parental child abduction
Leo Zagaris, survivor of international parental child abduction

Jeffery Morehouse, father of an American child abducted to Japan
Co-founder and Executive Director of Bring Abducted Children Home and Coalition Partner
view written remarks

Formal Remarks by Members of Congress:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell*
U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (by video provided to The Coalition)
U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein (in a statement read by her staff)*
U.S. Representative Chris Smith*
*not included in the briefing video

“Our office has consistently heard from left-behind parents and advocates that the Department rarely prosecutes individuals under the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act and that many federal prosecutors and law enforcement officers are either unaware of the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act’s existence or do not understand the vital role that prosecution can play in securing the return of abducted children,” wrote Senators Tillis and Feinstein. “We respectfully ask that you commit to increasing prosecutions under the law and provide training to all federal law enforcement officers on how it can be used to secure the return of American children.”
 
This letter is the latest step taken by Senators Tillis and Feinstein to increase awareness of international parental child abduction. Earlier this year, they sent a letter to Secretary Pompeo urging him to make more relentless and effective efforts to bring abducted American children back home to the United States by using all of the tools and resources at the State Department’s disposal and introduced a bipartisan resolution to combat international parental child abduction.

Read the full letter HERE.

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