Release of the 2023 Annual Report on International Parental Child Abduction

Today the Department of State submitted to Congress its 2023 Annual Report on International Child Abduction.  The Department is committed to protecting the safety and well-being of U.S. citizens overseas, especially our most vulnerable citizens – children.  The Department’s Office of Children’s Issues is a leader in U.S. government efforts to prevent international parental child abduction, help children and families involved in abduction cases, and promote the Hague Abduction Convention.  The Office’s dedicated staff works closely with our interagency partners, foreign counterparts, and other stakeholders in pursuit of our common goals of preventing abductions from the United States and achieving the prompt resolution of cases involving children who were wrongfully removed or retained by a parent from their country of habitual residence.

The Department strongly believes the Hague Abduction Convention is one of the most effective tools to deter and resolve international parental child abduction and secure the prompt return of abducted children.  We actively engage with foreign governments to encourage them to ratify or accede to the Convention and to fulfill their treaty obligations.  Unfortunately, there are countries that are reluctant to ratify or accede to the Convention and others which, although treaty partners with the United States, fail to live up to their commitments.

The 2023 Annual Report on International Child Abduction (IPCA) cites 14 countries as demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance:  Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Egypt, Honduras, India, Jordan, Peru, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Department will continue to actively work with all countries that are parties to the Convention and to encourage them to take more effective measures to resolve cases of international parental child abduction.  The Department invites other countries to join the Convention and work with the United States to resolve all pending international parental child abduction cases.

For more information, please see the full Report.