By Amjad Qaimkhani
WASHINGTON: The U.S. Department of State has released its 2025 Annual Report on International Child Abduction, focusing on the United States’ ongoing efforts to tackle international parental child abduction and reinforce the importance of the Hague Abduction Convention.
The report identifies 15 countries—Argentina, The Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Egypt, Honduras, India, Jordan, Peru, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, and the United Arab Emirates—as exhibiting patterns of noncompliance with the Convention, which facilitates the swift return of children wrongfully removed or retained across borders.
The Hague Abduction Convention plays a critical role in ensuring the protection of children’s rights in cases of international parental abduction. Through collaboration with foreign governments, the U.S. Department of State works to promote adherence to the treaty, aiming to safeguard children and prevent their wrongful removal or retention outside their habitual residence. The report underscores the U.S. government’s unwavering commitment to the protection and well-being of U.S. children abroad, highlighting the continued challenges faced in countries that fail to comply with the Convention’s provisions. It stresses the vital role of the Hague Convention in securing custody and visitation rights in the child’s country of habitual residence, ensuring vulnerable children are not exposed to harm. This annual report reiterates the importance of international cooperation in protecting children from the devastating consequences of abduction.
