Summary

In response to congressional concerns about how Germany, Sweden, and Austria handled U.S. cases of parental child abduction, GAO obtained information from the State Department on the status and outcome of cases initiated by parents left behind in the United States from January 1995 through May 15, 2000. This report provides the status and outcome of cases by country and provides background information on the provisions of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the process by which left-behind parents can apply for the return of, or access to, the abducted child.

GAO noted that: (1) from January 1995 through May 15, 2000, left-behind parents in the United States initiated 298 cases under the Hague Convention indicating that the child had been taken to, or retained in Germany, Sweden, and Austria by the other parent; (2) the Department of State closed 227 of these cases, and 71 cases remain open; (3) in 97 of the closed cases (43 percent), the child was returned or the left-behind parent was granted visitation rights; (4) nearly 90 percent of both opened and closed cases involved abductions to, or retentions in, Germany; (5) various reasons were cited for the 130 closed cases in which the children have not been returned or visitation was not granted; (6) in 49 cases, left-behind parents withdrew or did not actively pursue their applications; (7) in 16 cases, children were not returned because German courts concluded that the left-behind parent did not possess custody rights or subsequently acquiesced to the removal; and (8) in 17 cases, children were not returned because German courts ruled that the child's mental or physical well-being would be at risk.