Lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week heard testimony from Indian-American and other parents on the “abduction” of their children to India by their estranged spouses, and the group urged members of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) and the State Department to take up the matter vigorously with New Delhi.
Ravindra Parmar, whose wife allegedly took their son to India in 2012 and refused to bring him back, outlined the case for “left-behind parents” when he said to Congressmen that his life and that of the others facing this predicament “have been devastated not only by the abducting parents but also by ‘civilised’ nation states who have shown a blind eye to the immense human suffering that we have experienced for years.”
Mr. Parmar and similar parents of Indian and other origin have come together under the banner of ‘Bring Our Kids Home’ and found support from Representatives such as Chris Smith, Republican of New Jersey, who has also authored the U.S.’ parental child abduction law, the “Sean and David Goldman Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act.”
This week it appeared as though the HFAC was taking a tough line with State Department officials testifying in Congress on the abduction issue and discussing the Department’s Annual Report on International Parental Child Abduction.
Responding to likely Congressional criticism of last year’s report, Office Of Children’s Issues Director Henry Hand said, “The 2014 report represents a first effort that we understand does not meet all expectations and we value discussions like this to make it more effective. We compiled it under a compressed timeline with data gathered in the months after the new law came into effect.”
The 2015 report identifies India as a nation that is not a signatory to the 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, has no bilateral or other procedures with the U.S. to “resolve abductions,” and does not adhere to any protocol with regard to such cases.
The principal recommendation that the State Department made in the report vis-à-vis India was for Department officials to hold bilateral meetings with the Indian government “to encourage accession or ratification, as appropriate, and/or other protocols or procedures for resolving International Parental Child Abduction cases.”
With the backing of Mr. Smith and his colleagues, it is possible that the issue may escalate within the bilateral space in the months ahead even as it continues to gain traction in Washington.
