ABSTRACT
The act of removing children from their usual abode to another country will almost inevitably have harmful effects. A child is likely to feel uprooted from a familiar environment, especially in circumstances where the child loses contact with friends and relatives. This chapter deals with the international law relating, broadly, to situations where a parent takes a child to another country or retains that child in another country without the permission of the remaining parent. It is also difficult to find entirely reliable accounts of why this change in the profile of abductors has occurred. One possible explanation lies in the impact of reformed custody laws. The principle of the non-separation of children from their parents is set out in Art 9 of the CRC in respect of domestic situations, and Art 10 in respect of separations between children and parents that involve different countries.
