Japan, U.S. hold talks on international child abductions by parents

TOKYO, Jan. 22 Kyodo -
Japanese and U.S. officials met Friday for their first meeting to discuss how
to address situations in which failed international marriages result in
children being taken to Japan without the prior consent of U.S. parents, who
are then denied access, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
During the meeting, the U.S. officials reiterated that Japan should accede to
the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction,
which provides a procedure for the prompt return of children to their habitual
country of residence, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Embassy
in Tokyo.
More than 75 American parents and their children are victims of such situations
in Japan, the press release said.
''The U.S...strongly believes that children should grow up with access to both
parents even after the collapse of a marriage,'' it said.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a separate press release that it would
like to cooperate with the United States on solving cross-border child custody
issues.
The two countries will continue to discuss the issue.
Japan is the only country among the Group of Seven industrialized nations that
is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention.
The issue has drawn attention in Japan after an American man was arrested in
September for allegedly trying to forcibly take his children from his Japanese
ex-wife in Fukuoka Prefecture. The man was later released and prosecutors
decided not to take any action against him.
==Kyodo