Who to call in case of parental kidnapping

ABP World Group Child Recovery Services

Tragically International Child Abduction has reached global epidemic proportions.  According to leading experts the increase in inter-racial marriages and relationships  will, in the future, lead to a significant rise in the number of children born to parents of different nationalities.

 

As is true for all relationships, a statistically significant number of these marriages or partnerships will also end in divorce.       All too often, following the breakup of a marriage, one of the parents will abduct a child of that relationship against the wishes of the other parent,  frequently removing them to a country where the child has probably never lived.     This is called “International Parental Child Abduction”.

Although there are various civil remedies available to  parents of abducted children , the challenges they face are enormous, including first and foremost, locating  the child .

Unfortunately for the majority of targeted parents, the financial burden involved in recovery and litigation falls upon their shoulders. With tens of thousands of children abducted by parents each year, the reality is that too many of these children never come home.  ABP World Group is dedicated to assisting those parents who need help in locating, rescuing, and returning  their abducted child home safely.

Our intelligence and investigative capabilities combined with our ability to dispatch personnel to most locations in the world offer a safe and strategic solution to protecting what is most important to you : your child.

Unfortunately in this present climate parental kidnapping  occurs all too frequently and we are here to help you through this extremely traumatic  period.

We are aware that parental child abduction can be difficult to resolve, but through the use of professional operatives with the skills and expertise necessary to find a resolution. we are here to help you

ABP World Group’s successful recovery and re-unification strategy relies on the use of all the means available  including, but not limited to:

Electronic Forensic Foot printing Investigations

Intelligence Gathering

Information Specialists/Skip Tracing

Evidence Procurement

Interview/Evaluation

Surveillance Special Ops

Non-Combatant Evacuation Ops

Domestic Support

International Operations

Maritime/Land/Air transport

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

U.S Phone Number: (646) 502-7443

UK Phone Number: 020 3239 0013 –

Or you can call our 24h Emergency phone number: +47 45504271

Summer Holiday Is Parental Child Abduction Season

Child Recovery Services

Tragically International Child Abduction has reached global epidemic proportions.  According to leading experts the increase in inter-racial marriages and relationships  will, in the future, lead to a significant rise in the number of children born to parents of different nationalities 

As is true for all relationships, a statistically significant number of these marriages or partnerships will also end in divorce.       All too often, following the breakup of a marriage, one of the parents will abduct a child of that relationship against the wishes of the other parent,  frequently removing them to a country where the child has probably never lived.    – This is called “International Parental Child Abduction”.

Although there are various civil remedies available to  parents of abducted children , the challenges they face are enormous, including first and foremost, locating  the child .

Unfortunately for the majority of targeted parents, the financial burden involved in recovery and litigation falls upon their shoulders. With tens of thousands of children abducted by parents each year, the reality is that too many of these children never come home.  ABP World Group is dedicated to assisting those parents who need help in locating, rescuing, and returning  their abducted child home safely.

Our intelligence and investigative capabilities combined with our ability to dispatch personnel to most locations in the world offer a safe and strategic solution to protecting what is most important to you : your child.

Unfortunately in this present climate parental kidnapping  occurs all too frequently and we are here to help you through this extremely traumatic  period.

We are aware that parental child abduction can be difficult to resolve, but through the use of professional operatives with the skills and expertise necessary to find a resolution. we are here to help you.

ABP World Group’s successful recovery and re-unification strategy relies on the use of all the means available  including, but not limited to:

Electronic Forensic Foot printing Investigations

Intelligence Gathering

Information Specialists/Skip Tracing

Evidence Procurement

Interview/Evaluation

Surveillance Special Ops

Non-Combatant Evacuation Ops

Domestic Support

International Operations

Maritime/Land/Air transport

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

ABP World Group Risk Management

Contact us here: Mail

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

(646) 502-7443 United States

069 2547 2471 Germany

020 3239 0013 United Kingdom

01 442 9322 Ireland

031-753 83 77 Sweden

Prevention of Parental Abduction – Recognizing the Warning Signs

Source: Jeanne M. Hannah

Prevention of Parental Abduction | Recognizing the Red Flags

Families are under so much stress in today’s society–financial and relationship stress–that parentalabduction of the children may become an issue in any given family. I have often been contacted in the past year by a parent who says his/her spouse has taken the children and moved to another state. I advise them of their rights under the UCCJEA, and of the importance of protecting home state jurisdiction by seeking return of the children to their home state before six months have elapsed, after which the new state may become the “home state” of the children where a custody battle would have to be waged. [A later post will discuss the concept of “extended home state jurisdiction.”]

Abduction prevention and recovery of abducted children has become a major part of my practice. Because the effects of abduction on children can be very serious [See Part I of this series], it is important for parents to put preventative measures in place. The purpose of today’s post is to provide parents with information to help them assess whether they should be concerned about parental abduction.

Red flags” identified by the Department of State.The Department of State identifies the following “red flags” or warning signs of risk. [See “A Family Resource Guide on International Parental Kidnapping” [From the Office of Juvenile Justice and Deliquency Prevention] at pages 4-5.] The Resource Guide also discusses profiles common to abducting or “taking parents.” While most parents don’t have to worry about a parent taking the child or children to a foreign country, the warning signs for interstate kidnapping are generally about the same as those for international kidnapping.According to the OJJDP, although there are no foolproof warning signs or psychological profiles for abduction risk, there are some indicators that should not be ignored. Parents are urged to be alert to the warning signs that an international kidnapping may be in the offing.

It may be a “red flag” if a parent has:

•    Previously abducted or threatened to abduct the child. Some threats are unmistakable,
such as when an angry or vindictive parent verbally threatens to kidnap the child so
that “you will never see the child again.” Others are less direct. For instance, you
may learn about the other parent’s plans through casual conversation with your child.
•    Citizenship in another country and strong emotional or cultural ties to the country of origin. [For interestate kidnapping, the obvious red flag is–family ties and friends in other states, with none in the state where the children are living with both parents.
•    Friends or family living in another country (or, in some cases another state).
•    No strong ties to the child’s home state.
•    A strong support network.
•    No financial reason to stay in the area (e.g., the parent is unemployed, able to work
anywhere, or is financially independent).
• Engaged in planning activities, such as quitting a job; selling a home; terminating a lease; closing a bank account or liquidating other assets; hiding or destroying documents; or securing a passport, a birth certificate, or school or medical records.
•    A history of marital instability, lack of cooperation with the other parent, domestic violence, or child abuse.
•    Reacted jealously to or felt threatened by the other parent’s remarriage or new romantic involvement.
•    A criminal record.

Are there personality profiles of parents who may pose an abduction risk?

OJJDP has identified six personality profiles that may be helpful in predicting which parents may pose a risk of abduction, using the identifications presented by Girdner and Johnston in their research report Prevention of Family Abduction Through Early Identification of Risk Factors. That report is listed in the “Recommended Reading” section at the end of the OJJDP guide. OJJDP cautions that while these profiles may be helpful in predicting which parents may pose a risk of abduction, they do not guarantee that parents who fit a particular profile will abduct or that parents who do not fit a profile will not.

The six profiles are:

•    Profile l: Parents who have threatened to abduct or have abducted previously.
•    Profile 2: Parents who are suspicious or distrustful because of their belief that abuse has occurred and who have social support for their belief.
•    Profile 3: Parents who are paranoid.
•    Profile 4: Parents who are sociopathic.
•    Profile 5: Parents who have strong ties to another country and are ending a mixed-culture marriage. [For interstate abductions, this may be strong ties to another state and/or strong family ties to a dysfunctional family.]
•    Profile 6: Parents who feel disenfranchised from the legal system (e.g., those who are poor, a minority, or victims of abuse) and have family and social support.

According to the OJJDP Guide, taking parents across the six personality profiles share many common characteristics.

• They are likely to deny or dismiss the value of the other parent to the child.
• They believe they know what is best for the child, and they cannot see how or why they should share parenting with the other parent.
• They are likely to have very young children who are easy to transport and conceal and who are unlikely to protest verbally or tell others of their plight.
• With the exception of the paranoid profile, abducting parents are apt to have the financial and moral support of a network of family, friends, and/or cultural, community, or underground groups.
• Many abductors do not consider their actions illegal or morally wrong.
• Finally, according to the Guide, mothers and fathers are equally likely to abduct, although at different times—fathers before a court order, mothers after an order has been made.

Parents who fit profile 5—those who are citizens of another country (or who have dual citizenship with the United States) and who also have strong ties to their extended family in their country of origin—have long been recognized as those who might engage in international parental abduction. The risk is especially acute at the time of parental separation and divorce, when the parent feels cast adrift from a mixed-culture marriage and a need to return to ethnic or religious roots for emotional support and to reconstitute a shaken self-identity. Often, in reaction to being rendered helpless or to the insult of feeling rejected and discarded by the ex-spouse, a parent may try to take unilateral action by returning with the child to his or her family of origin. This is a way of insisting that one cultural identity be given preeminent status over the other in the child’s upbringing. Often the parent will have idealized his or her own culture, childhood, and family of origin.

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

ABP World Group™ Risk Management

Contact us here: Mail 

Skype: abpworld

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

Abducted to Poland: Stephen Watkins at rally for his sons at Polish embassy in Toronto

Source: Bring home Watkins missing children support group and yorkregion.com

Stephen Watkins children was illegally abducted to Poland, The black hole of child abduction – A non co-operating member of the Hague convention.

Stephen Watkins at rally for his sons at Polish embassy in Toronto

A Polish court has denied a Newmarket man’s bid to bring home his two children, according to the man’s Facebook page.
Stephen Watkins accuses his ex-wife Edyta Watkins (Ustaszewski) of abducting their two boys, Alexander and Christopher, in 2009.

Mr. Watkins wrote in a Facebook post last night he is not feeling well in the aftermath of yesterday’s ruling.
“I am frustrated along with being very sad. I don’t know what to say except that I am not giving up on my sons.” he wrote, adding he plans to appeal the ruling.

In advance of the ruling, Mr. Watkins acknowledged his uphill climb to secure custody of the boys was far from over.
“One thing is finding your kids, it’s another thing bringing them home,” Mr. Watkins said by telephone Wednesday from Warsaw, Poland, where has been since Nov. 23.
Mr. Watkins has seen Alexander and Christopher at an apartment building in the eastern European country, but has been unable to hug them, he said.
They seem confused and Mr. Watkins believes they have been brainwashed.
The long road from family difficulties. which began 2-1/2 years ago, to receiving word about the children through Polish court documents last summer has been emotionally taxing and financially burdensome, he admits.
“The Polish courts have known where my kids are for about a year,” he charged. “It took them a year to contact me.”
After his children disappeared, his ex-wife attempted to enrol them at a Polish school. But with no documentation about their boys’ background, Polish authorities apparently became suspicious and launched an investigation, which landed in the courts, Mr. Watkins believes.
Then, the Polish courts sent Mr. Watkins a summons.
“That was our first lead,” he said.
He was glad to know where his sons were, but his research had taught him not to get too excited, he added.

The boys were reported missing the Monday following a scheduled weekend visit with their mother.
After Mr. Watkins was granted custody of the boys, United States Homeland Security confirmed a woman and two boys took a flight from Rochester, N.Y. to Detroit, Mich. March 8, 2009 before departing for Frankfurt, Germany.
From there, the trio apparently entered Poland.

Mrs. Watkins is a native of Poland and has family there. The boys could also be recognized as Polish citizens, Canadian authorities said.
Because Canada has no extradition treaty with Poland, Mr. Watkins has faced an uphill battle.
He thanked several local support agencies, York Regional Police and Canadian officials in Poland for their help and acknowledged members of Parliament have spoken on his behalf.

Earlier this week, Newmarket-Aurora Conservative MP Lois Brown issued a news release stating she had discussed Mr. Watkins’ efforts in the House of Commons during discussion about a government initiative to help protect Canadian children travelling abroad.
However, Mr. Watkins believes only pressure from the highest levels of the Canadian government — the Prime Minister’s Office — will help pressure the Polish government.
“My fingers are crossed that (Prime Minister) Stephen Harper will stand up and say something,” he said. “I need some of that political clout.”
In advance of the court ruling, Mr. Watkins didn’t hold his hopes high and was skeptical of a major change in the situation.
“My ex has gone to great lengths to travel around the world … and hide the children,” he said.

————————————————————————————————————

“I would like to thank the Canadian politicians LOIS BROWN, MP (Newmarket-Aurora) and JINNY SIMS, NDP PM (Newton-North Delta BC) for raising awareness to the Canadian government of my sons International Child Abduction case, known world-wide as ‘ Watkins Missing Children ‘, in Canada’s House of Commons and also raising awareness to the issues of International Parental Child Abductions from Canada.

I am hopping and my ‘Christmas Wish’ is that our Canadian Prime Minister, STEPHEN HARPER, also send an equally strong message and statement denouncing the actions of Poland with my two Canadian children, illegally kidnapped from Canada and now stuck in Poland.

I believe it will take a strong statement from our Canadian political leader seeking the return of my sons, similarly to what the United States – Secretary HILLARY CLINTON has done denouncing the inactions of Brazil and Japan in similar child abduction cases, so that the country of Poland understands that International Child Abductions will not be tolerated by any nation.” says Stephen Watkins, the father of Missing / Abducted Alexander & Christopher Watkins.”

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

Join the Facebook Group: International Parental Child Abduction

NOTE: We are available 24/7

U.S Phone Number: (646) 502-7443
UK Phone Number: 020 3239 0013 –
Or you can call our 24h Emergency phone number: +47 45504271

Parental Child Abduction: American Father Fights to Bring Children Home From Egypt

Source: abcnews

Colin Bower said he still remembers the shock and horror he felt during a phone call he received in August of 2009. A male caller informed him that his children had been taken to Egypt, Bower says, and that if he made any attempts to contact authorities, he would never see them again.

He was supposed to pick up his two boys, Noor and Ramsay, 9 and 7 at the time, from a scheduled visit in Boston with their mother, Mirvat El Nady, Bower says. A U.S. judge had granted him sole legal custody after the couple’s divorce in 2008, and El Nady, a British and Egyptian citizen, had limited visitation. Those restrictions, Bower says, along with findings in the divorce proceedings raising doubts about her truthfulness, angered El Nady and prompted the kidnapping.

Bower, a financial consultant from Boston, said he later learned that El Nady had taken the children to John F. Kennedy airport in New York, purchased one-way tickets to Cairo with cash, and allegedly used Egyptian passports with false identities to get the boys past security and onto an EgyptAir flight.

Bower has sued the airline, alleging they failed to pick up on serious red flags: the boys’ surnames did not match their mother’s and the boys’ passports had no U.S. entry visas. Barry Pollack, who is representing Bower in the case, says EgyptAir should have safeguards in place for potential abduction cases.

“Airlines have every right to require the parents to show dual parental consent forms to prove that the adult has the right to take that child overseas,” Pollack told ABC News.

EgyptAir declined to comment specifically on the lawsuit. Just last month, lawyers for the airline filed a motion asking that the suit be dismissed. Regarding parental consent forms, their motion argues that EgyptAir is only required to review passports and that “airlines simply do not have the manpower required to track down and contact non-traveling parents to discuss their children’s travel.”

The motion for dismissal also cited a recent report on international child abductions by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The report, which says the annual number of cases of abductions reported has tripled since 2000, suggests that airlines “do not have the authority to verify or enforce court and custody orders in an effort to prevent international parental child abductions.”

Instead, the report states, that responsibility belongs to the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Bower says that’s letting airlines off the hook.

“The GAO report clearly represents the interests of the airlines, not the safety of the passengers or their children,” Bower said. “This should absolutely terrify every parent.”

In response to an email from ABC News, the GAO said, “The report does not state that airlines have no responsibility to check identifications, nor was it intended to suggest that airlines are prohibited from requesting verified or certified copies of custody orders in order to prevent child abductions. …The report makes a general statement which was intended to reflect the distinction between the role and authority of the courts, law enforcement officials, federal agencies, and private sector entities such as the airlines.”

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

Join the Facebook Group: International Parental Child Abduction

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

U.S Phone Number: (646) 502-7443

UK Phone Number: 020 3239 0013 –

Or you can call our 24h Emergency phone number: +47 45504271

Parental Abduction News: Fox Point Dad Gets Daughter Back From Japan In Time For Christmas

We are very happy to share this news with you all

Source: WISN.COM

Karina Garcia Arrived In United States Friday Morning

MILWAUKEE — A 9-year-old girl is back with her father in Milwaukee following an international custody battle between an American parent and the Japanese government. It was a battle that many other American parents have never won.

Karina Garcia arrived from Japan Friday morning after her Fox Point father fought for nearly four years to regain custody. She was taken four years ago by her mother and held in Japan.

Karina’s dad talked to 12 News as they were on their way home from the Chicago airport heading to Fox Point.

“She’s nervous in the beginning. She told me she was overwhelmed from the, so many people around. But now, with me and my sister, she is actually sleeping. So she’s doing OK,” Dr. Moises Garcia said.

A Milwaukee judge ruled in November that Garcia’s Japanese ex-wife, Emiko Inoue, would remain jailed until their daughter was returned to Wisconsin. On Friday, Inoue was set free from a Milwaukee jail.

“For me, it’s going to be just about building the relationship again, and trying to be her friend and her dad at the same time,” Moises Garcia said. “It’s important that she has choices, and it’s important that she start building trust. And I told her that she’s going to see her parents, her grandparents and her mom in the future, hopefully very soon.”

Moises Garcia called it a miracle having his little girl home for Christmas, and he’s hoping the Japanese government realizes all children deserve two parents.

“Hopefully, children that still have no access to their parents over there will have them. And I think that will be my New Year’s resolution for now, but this is a big gift from God,” he said.

Karina’s dad said she is already asking about when school starts and wants to play with neighborhood friends.

Karina’s mother has agreed to stay in the United States for three years as part of the court decision.

Previous Stories:

• November 23, 2011: Fox Point Father Counts Days Until Daughter Returns
• November 21, 2011: Judge Orders Girl, 9, Returned To Father From Japan

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

Join the Facebook Group: International Parental Child Abduction

NOTE: We are always available, also during The Christmas holidays. Christmas is the high season for parental abductions.

U.S Phone Number: (646) 502-7443
UK Phone Number: 020 3239 0013 –

Or you can call our 24h Emergency phone number: +47 45504271

Abducted to Poland: Stephen Watkins at rally for his sons at Polish embassy in Toronto

Source: Bring home Watkins missing children support group and yorkregion.com

Stephen Watkins children was illegally abducted to Poland, The black hole of child abduction – A non co-operating member of the Hague convention.

Stephen Watkins at rally for his sons at Polish embassy in Toronto

A Polish court has denied a Newmarket man’s bid to bring home his two children, according to the man’s Facebook page.
Stephen Watkins accuses his ex-wife Edyta Watkins (Ustaszewski) of abducting their two boys, Alexander and Christopher, in 2009.

Mr. Watkins wrote in a Facebook post last night he is not feeling well in the aftermath of yesterday’s ruling.
“I am frustrated along with being very sad. I don’t know what to say except that I am not giving up on my sons.” he wrote, adding he plans to appeal the ruling.

In advance of the ruling, Mr. Watkins acknowledged his uphill climb to secure custody of the boys was far from over.
“One thing is finding your kids, it’s another thing bringing them home,” Mr. Watkins said by telephone Wednesday from Warsaw, Poland, where has been since Nov. 23.
Mr. Watkins has seen Alexander and Christopher at an apartment building in the eastern European country, but has been unable to hug them, he said.
They seem confused and Mr. Watkins believes they have been brainwashed.
The long road from family difficulties. which began 2-1/2 years ago, to receiving word about the children through Polish court documents last summer has been emotionally taxing and financially burdensome, he admits.
“The Polish courts have known where my kids are for about a year,” he charged. “It took them a year to contact me.”
After his children disappeared, his ex-wife attempted to enrol them at a Polish school. But with no documentation about their boys’ background, Polish authorities apparently became suspicious and launched an investigation, which landed in the courts, Mr. Watkins believes.
Then, the Polish courts sent Mr. Watkins a summons.
“That was our first lead,” he said.
He was glad to know where his sons were, but his research had taught him not to get too excited, he added.

The boys were reported missing the Monday following a scheduled weekend visit with their mother.
After Mr. Watkins was granted custody of the boys, United States Homeland Security confirmed a woman and two boys took a flight from Rochester, N.Y. to Detroit, Mich. March 8, 2009 before departing for Frankfurt, Germany.
From there, the trio apparently entered Poland.

Mrs. Watkins is a native of Poland and has family there. The boys could also be recognized as Polish citizens, Canadian authorities said.
Because Canada has no extradition treaty with Poland, Mr. Watkins has faced an uphill battle.
He thanked several local support agencies, York Regional Police and Canadian officials in Poland for their help and acknowledged members of Parliament have spoken on his behalf.

Earlier this week, Newmarket-Aurora Conservative MP Lois Brown issued a news release stating she had discussed Mr. Watkins’ efforts in the House of Commons during discussion about a government initiative to help protect Canadian children travelling abroad.
However, Mr. Watkins believes only pressure from the highest levels of the Canadian government — the Prime Minister’s Office — will help pressure the Polish government.
“My fingers are crossed that (Prime Minister) Stephen Harper will stand up and say something,” he said. “I need some of that political clout.”
In advance of the court ruling, Mr. Watkins didn’t hold his hopes high and was skeptical of a major change in the situation.
“My ex has gone to great lengths to travel around the world … and hide the children,” he said.

————————————————————————————————————

“I would like to thank the Canadian politicians LOIS BROWN, MP (Newmarket-Aurora) and JINNY SIMS, NDP PM (Newton-North Delta BC) for raising awareness to the Canadian government of my sons International Child Abduction case, known world-wide as ‘ Watkins Missing Children ‘, in Canada’s House of Commons and also raising awareness to the issues of International Parental Child Abductions from Canada.

I am hopping and my ‘Christmas Wish’ is that our Canadian Prime Minister, STEPHEN HARPER, also send an equally strong message and statement denouncing the actions of Poland with my two Canadian children, illegally kidnapped from Canada and now stuck in Poland.

I believe it will take a strong statement from our Canadian political leader seeking the return of my sons, similarly to what the United States – Secretary HILLARY CLINTON has done denouncing the inactions of Brazil and Japan in similar child abduction cases, so that the country of Poland understands that International Child Abductions will not be tolerated by any nation.” says Stephen Watkins, the father of Missing / Abducted Alexander & Christopher Watkins.”

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

Join the Facebook Group: International Parental Child Abduction

NOTE: We are always available, also during The Christmas holidays. Christmas is the high season for parental abductions.

U.S Phone Number: (646) 502-7443
UK Phone Number: 020 3239 0013 –
Or you can call our 24h Emergency phone number: +47 45504271

Dad takes kids in Fairfax, flees to Tunisia

Source: Washington Examiner

By: Emily Babay | 12/20/11 8:05 PM
Examiner Staff Writer | Follow Her: @Emilybabay

PHOTO COURTESY OF NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN

Zainab Chebbi

Authorities are trying to recover two young Fairfax County children who were allegedly kidnapped by their father and taken to Tunisia.

Two-year-old Zainab Chebbi and 5-year-old Eslam Chebbi have been missing since Nov. 11, when prosecutors say their father, 39-year-old Faical Chebbi, flew with them to Tunisia.

Faical Chebbi called the children’s mother — his ex-wife — the next day and told her he and the children would not be returning, according to court records. Chebbi was charged in federal court in Alexandria with international parental kidnapping.

Chebbi and Edeanna Johnson-Chebbi divorced in January, nearly a year after she obtained a protective order because he threatened to kill her, according to court documents. Johnson-Chebbi had sole custody of Zainab and Eslam; Chebbi absconded with the children after picking them up from their grandparents’ house in Prince George’s County for a scheduled visit, according to the court documents.

“At first, I was sort of in an action mode,” said Johnson-Chebbi, who has created a Facebook pageand online petitions about the case. She said coping has gotten harder over the past month, but she is still optimistic her children will be returned.

“What else are you going to do?” she told The Washington Examiner. “I won’t allow myself to imagine that this will pass. They will be home. I just don’t know how or when.”

But Johnson-Chebbi faces an uphill battle. There are no treaties or agreements between the United States and Tunisia regarding parental abduction cases. The countries also don’t have an extradition treaty. And her ex-husband’s “arrogance” means the filing of criminal charges is unlikely to change his mindset, Johnson-Chebbi said.

She said the family’s court documents were on file with the Tunisian Embassy and the children shouldn’t have been able to obtain passports.

No attorney was listed for Chebbi in court records. The embassy didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Anyone with information can contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-THE-LOST (843-5678).

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

Join the Facebook Group: International Parental Child Abduction

NOTE: We are always available, also during The Christmas holidays. Christmas is the high season for parental abductions.

U.S Phone Number: (646) 502-7443
UK Phone Number: 020 3239 0013 –
Or you can call our 24h Emergency phone number: +47 45504271

Canadian Dad in Poland Trying for Return of Abducted Sons

Source: Fathers and Families

December 12th, 2011 by Robert Franklin, Esq.

The more we see of international child abduction by parents, the less effective the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction seems. 

The Convention is supposed to require signatory countries to return children to their non-abducting parent within 60 days of apprehension.  But the simple fact is that it seldom seems to work.

This may well be another example (Toronto Star, 12/10/11).

Stephen Watkins of Ontario lost his two sons – Alexander, 10 and Christopher, 7 – back in March of 2009.  They were abducted by their non-custodial mother, Edyta Watkins.  Stephen and Edyta were divorced and he had gained primary custody.

Stephen Watkins contends his ex-wife was suffering from post-partum depression and became abusive toward him six months after giving birth to their first child. After a court battle, a judge granted him custody of the children with his ex-wife having access to the boys on weekends.

Then, one Monday morning, his sons’ school called to say the boys hadn’t shown up for class.

A Canada-wide arrest warrant for abduction was issued for their mother, and her name appeared on the RCMP’s most wanted list. York Regional Police allege the mother and children drove into the U.S. and then flew to Germany.

After that, the trail went cold.

So, his first child is now 10 years old.  He was abducted by the mother at age eight.  Her emotional/psychological abuse of Stephen began six months after Alexander was born.

After over two years, he’s finally located them in his ex-wife’s native Poland.  He traveled to Warsaw and visited briefly with his two boys who looked much the same, but behaved very differently than before.

The short encounter was bittersweet.

“When I see my kids, they don’t call me daddy,” said Watkins. “They call me by my first name.” He accused his ex of brainwashing them.

Another article reports it this way (CTV, 12/10/11).

“They looked the same after two-and-a-half years,” Watkins told CTV News Saturday in an interview from Poland. “But they looked very stressed out and they seemed very angry…I can understand it would be very confusing for children.”

In short, the mother, who emotionally abused Watkins badly enough to lose custody and then abducted the children, seems now to be alienating them as well.

Canadian authorities issued an arrest warrant for Edyta Watkins when she first abducted the boys, but Canada and Poland have no extradition treaty, so her criminal wrongdoing will go unpunished as long as she remains in Poland.

That leaves the Hague Convention as Stephen’s only recourse to get his children back and away from their mother who appears to be willing to abuse anyone in her family in order to deprive her ex-husband of his children.  Mental health professionals long ago identified parental child abduction as child abuse, and so it seems here.  After only a few minutes with his boys, Watkins could tell their abduction, separation from him and possible alienation were causing the boys emotional/psychological harm.

But the more we see of the Hague Convention, the more frail a reed it appears on which to rely to protect children from exactly the type of abuse the Watkins boys have experienced.  The Watkins case is a perfect example of one in which the Polish court should immediately order the children returned to their father.  He’s the parent with primary custody and there’s evidence that the mother is less than fit.  Into the bargain, she obviously wants to deny the children a father.

So the case is a slam-dunk win for Stephen Watkins, right?  After all, his is exactly the type of case the Convention is supposed to address.

Not so fast.  In the first place, even if the court issues the right order this Thursday when it hears the case, it’s so far taken no action to prevent the mother from absconding with the children again.  You’d think that would be an obvious thing to do given the known facts of the case, but so far no order has been issued.

And when the court does hear the case, it can always decide that the children have gotten used to their new surroundings and it would therefore not be in their best interests to re-place them in their father’s care.  We’ve seen British courts do that more than once recently under circumstances that made clear that the words “best interests of the child” were just a proxy for pro-mother bias.

What’s to prevent that in the Watkins case?  Nothing that I can see.  Maybe that’s why the title of the CTV article says the children are “in legal limbo.”  Face it, the Convention is clear and Stephen Watkins’ rights are clear; so are his children’s.  The only “legal limbo” is whether the Polish court will enforce those rights.  Or will it fall back on the excuse that the boys have been in Poland for two of their 10 and 7 years and so, in some way, they need to remain there rather than returning to the country in which they’ve spent almost their entire lives?

You wouldn’t think a court could ignore all the obvious reasons to return the children to their father and to their home country, but we’ve seen it done too many times to hold out a lot of hope for Stephen Watkins and his boys.

We’ll see.  So far, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction seems to be violated by judges almost as often as by parents.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Services

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

Join the Facebook Group: International Parental Child Abduction

Parental Abduction – How bad can it be?

Leading experts believe that due to the rapid growth in multi-national marriages and relationships, the number of children born from parents of different countries will continue to expand.

Similar to all relationships, a significant portion of these marriages or partnerships will end in divorce. All too often, one of the separating parents of the child of the relationship will seek to abduct the child to a country other than where the child has lived. This is called ‘International Parental Child Abduction’, and though there are various civil remedies available to targeted parents who have had their child abducted, the challenges they face are grave, and include first and foremost, locating where the child is located.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Services

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

Join the Group: International Parental Child Abduction