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.” 

In a hand delivered-letter to Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio following his address to the US Congress late last week, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) made a direct appeal to the Japanese leader to personally intervene and help return over 500 American children who have been abducted to Japan to their left-behind parents in the United States.

“As our two countries continue to take steps to strengthen our democratic, economic and security ties, I would like to draw your attention to an open wound that threatens to derail many ongoing efforts.” Smith wrote in his letter to Kishida. 

“To date, more than 500 American children have been abducted to Japan by one of their respective parents and remain separated from their American parent. These abductions often occur against pre-existing court orders and, in some cases, with the passport assistance of the Japanese government,” Smith said in the letter.

In his letter, Smith cited just a few of the parents who have been denied access to their children in Japan, including Jeffery Morehouse—who has been fighting for the return of his young son Mochi since 2010 and has testified at several congressional hearings chaired by Smith. Despite having legal custody in Washington State which was recognized by Japanese courts, Morehouse still cannot gain access to his son in Japan.

Other parents who have testified before Smith’s committee and who were named in his letter include Retired Navy Capt. Paul Toland, Former Marine Corps Sgt. Michael Elias, and Randy Collins of California.

“For the sake of the children who are suffering, and for the sake of U.S. and Japanese relations, I seek your public commitment to reunite these families,” Smith continued in the letter. “I respectfully request that you work with the United States to create a process by which families can be reunited and heal.”​

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.

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).

At today's Senate confirmation hearing for Rahm Emanuel, nominated to be the next US ambassador to Japan, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez closed the hearing about the kidnapping crisis with Japan.

He noted, "More than 475 US children have been kidnapped to Japan and the US has named Japan a top-three worst offender of international parental child abduction."

He furthered there has been no significant improvement since Japan became a Hague Abduction Convention signatory in 2014. He asked Mr. Emanuel to make it a priority to get the Japanese government to understand, "When you enter into an international convention and when American children are involved we certainly expect you to live up to your obligations under the convention."

Mr. Emanuel underscored his view, "Your word is your bond. If you signed into an agreement to be trusted as a partner and ally, you must uphold the principle of that agreement."

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.

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."

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

​CONTACTS:
Daniel Keylin (Tillis)| (202) 224-6342
Ashley Schapitl (Feinstein) | (202) 224-9629
 ​

​WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 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.

WASHINGTON—Parents Jeffery Morehouse, Juan Garaicoa, and Michelle Littleton sat before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Dec. 10 to testify about the same terrible fate of their children—international abduction by a spouse.

“While most children were returning to school, my children were boarding a plane and being kidnapped to war-torn Lebanon,” Littleton, a mother of three, said.

“She had kidnapped our son to Japan,” said Morehouse, the founder and executive director of the non-profit Bring Abducted Children Home. “I don’t even know where he is being held.”

“Time is of the essence and now is the time to bring our children home,” pleaded Garaicoa, whose two children remain in Ecuador.

While the countries, children, and spouses are different, they share the same frustration of fighting to be reunited with their children in foreign lands.
Morehouse won custody of his children in U.S. courts—and twice in Japan—but his teenage son, Mochi, who was taken by his wife at age 6, remains in Japan with his mother because there is no enforcement mechanism under Japanese law.
​
“In the end, the court refused to reunite Mochi and me,” said Morehouse.”It does not matter how a child ends up with the abductor in Japan, they will not uphold laws and treaties to return children to their rightful home.”

Jeffery Morehouse dropped his 6-year-old son off with his mother for a weeklong visit in 2010 — and she managed to abscond with him to Japan.

On Monday, Mr. Morehouse, executive director of Bring Abducted Children Home, called on Congress to step up American efforts to bring his son and other children back from overseas, saying the government’s actions are inconsistent and insufficient.
​
“President Trump ran on putting America first,” Mr. Morehouse said in his testimony to the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on global human rights. “Well, America first means putting American children first and bringing them home.”

U.S. Congresswoman Mimi Walters (CA-45) speaks on the House floor about Keisuke's 2008 kidnapping to Japan by his mother and Japan's terrible record on international parental child abduction.

“Japan continues to have one of the worst records in returning abducted children like Keisuke [Collins] to the United States,” declared Rep. Walters.

She closed, "this is a grave injustice and I will continue to support Randy and all
families whose children have been wrongfully abducted."

In 2011, partnering with Mr. Collins while she served in the California State Senate she introduced SB 1206 which was signed into law in 2012 as Keisuke's Law.

The House and The Senate both held hearings on international parental child abduction in April. One of the focal points was the State Department's lack of use of the sanction tools under The Goldman Act.

Below is a condensed video where senators ask about the sanctions during the April 24, 2018 Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing, "Abducted Abroad: Exploring the Plight of International Parental Child Abduction and its Effect on American Families."

Representatives asked a similar line of questions in the condensed video of the April 11, 2018 House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing, "No Abducted Child Left Behind: An Update on the Goldman Act."

​Senate Resolution 431 (S.Res.431) will create a month of awareness of for the harm caused by international parental child abduction. It will lead to greater action to #EndInternationalParentalChildAbduction
Learn about the resolution here. 

U.S. Congressman Chris Smith provides an impassioned plea for the return of "Mochi" Atomu Imoto Morehouse and all children kidnapped to Japan by a parent. The video was released at a May 29, 2017 press conference in Tokyo by Jeffery Morehouse and attorney Akira Ueno at the Tokyo Courthouse. (full transcript in Japanese and English follows)

ジェフリーモアハウスは、2010年以来、彼の誘拐された息子、モチ君と再会すべく、粘り強く、思慮深く、努力し続けています。
 
国際的な人権を監督する公式な議会小委員会の議長として、私は、ジェフリー氏を議会に招待しました。彼に自らの話を議会で証言してもらうためです。彼の証言を聞いた私は、深く感動しました。彼とモチ君が、この悲痛な、そして非合法な引き離しの結果として味わっている苦痛、苦しみ－－その苦痛を知るにつけ、彼の息子に対する愛情がどれだけ並外れたものか分かります。
 
2015年にジェフリー氏が米国議会に報告したとおり、彼は2007年以来アメリカ合衆国においてモチ君の単独監護権を有しています。この事実はまた、2014年に日本の法廷でもまた合法なものとして認められています。にもかかわらず、彼の息子が日本政府によって彼のもとに戻されなかったことについて、私は衝撃を受けました。
 
彼がどれほどの苦痛を味わっているか、それは私の想像を超えるものでしょう。彼と会い、話を聞く度、私はそう感じます。彼は、モチ君が無事に帰ってくるために、精力的に努力し続けている愛情深い父です。
 
1994年以来、アメリカ合衆国から日本への親による誘拐事件は数百件あります。その中でもジェフリー氏のケースは、母親による重大な違法行為がある点で目を引きます。日本にとどまることが「子供の最善の福祉」であると主張することは間違いです。もちろん、それは誘拐された後で日本に行った場合でも、日本で誘拐があった場合でもです。親による子の連れ去りは、児童虐待です。そしてそれは、その状態が続く限り、日々進行し続けています。
 
日本は、人口の多い大国です。そして我が国の友人であり、重要な同盟国です。しかし、いかなる民主国家も、いかに立派な政府であっても、こうした犯罪行為を許し続けてはなりません。
 
2011年に、私は、日本に連れ去られた子供との再会をただただ願うたくさんのアメリカ人の親御さん方のために来日しました。私がお会いした日本側の官僚の方や政府高官の方は、こうした国際的な子の連れ去り引き離しが、子供と引き離された親の両方にとってどれだけ深い傷を残すかということについて、大いに賛同してくださいました。
 
日本が国際的な子の誘拐に関するハーグ条約にすでに署名していることは周知のとおりです。これは、こうした子供の誘拐事例をハーグ条約の精神に沿って適切に解決するという政府の意思の顕れです。
 
にもかかわらず、すでに数年前に裁判所での判断が出ているはずのモアハウス氏のケースは、いまだ解決できていません。父子の再会はできないままであり、日本における人権問題として取り上げられ続けています。
 
私は日本政府の友人たちに求めます。どうか、いまだ未解決の国際的な子供の誘拐問題について、決定的な措置を取ってください。どうか、モチ君を、愛情に満ちた父親の下に帰してあげてください。

Jeffery Morehouse has been tenaciously and thoughtfully trying to reunite with his kidnapped son, Mochi, since 2010.
 
As the chairman of the official congressional subcommittee that oversees international human rights, I invited Jeffery to testify before congress to tell his story.  I was deeply moved. The love he has for his son is extraordinary—as is the suffering and pain he and Mochi endure as a result of this heartbreaking and illegal separation.
 
As Jeffery reported to the US Congress in 2015, he has had sole custody in the United States since 2007. This fact was also recognized as legal by the courts in Japan in 2014.  Thus, it is shocking that his son has not been returned to him by the Japanese government.
 
I can't imagine the pain of this kind of separation, and I hear it in his words every time I see him, and that is often.  He is a loving father tirelessly trying and working for return of his son.
 
There have been hundreds of parental abductions from the U.S. to Japan since 1994.  Jeffery's case underscores a serious injustice.  It is false to claim that it is “in the best interest of the child” to remain in Japan—or anywhere after being kidnapped and taken there.  Child abduction is a daily, ongoing form of child abuse.
 
Japan is a great country with many great people.  It is a friend and important ally of the United States.  But, no democratic, honorable government should allow this type of criminal act to continue.
 
In 2011, I traveled to Japan on behalf of many American parents who simply wanted to be reunited with their children.  Japanese elected officials and government officials with whom I met, agree that the forced separation is deeply damaging—both for the child and the left behind parent. 
 
Japan as we all know has since signed the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction—signifying the government’s intention to properly resolving these child abduction cases.
 
But the Morehouse case, already adjudicated in the courts years ago, continues to raise troubling questions about Japan’s human rights’ record and its commitment to reuniting families. 

​And so I call on my friends in the Japanese government to please take decisive action in this and other pending international child abduction cases.  Please return Mochi to his loving father.