Biometrics – Preventative Measure for International Parental Abductions

exceedingly compromised - if not marred beyond belief.  You are given the inconceivable task to not only make sense of the pieces of your life that no longer seem to fit but have the courage to look in the mirror and accept the fact that these pieces, no matter how foreign or unavoidably dysfunctional – represent you.  You are the parent left behind.  You are the sibling left behind.  You are the abducted child.

The U.S. Department of State receives approximately 1,200 new Hague and non-Hague cases annually.

The FBI confidently assesses that the majority of child abductions are committed by persons with a relationship to the child they abduct.  The FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) team was established in 2009 to provide FBI field offices with a resource team of additional investigators with specialized experience in child abduction matters.  These regional teams provide rapid, on-site response to provide investigative, technical, and resource assistance during the most critical time period following a child abduction.  In 2009, the team had the most deployments since its inception.

"Despite close to 20 years of organized concern about missing children, and despite the creation of missing child prevention and intervention programs, the family abduction problem remains one area where efforts may be the least developed.  Knowledge about the number of children who experience family abductions should spur efforts to prevent the occurrence of family abductions and help children and their aggrieved caretakers recover from the effects of these abductions when they occur."

The excerpt above was resourced from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, to Temple University.  (The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice and the Office for Victims of Crime.)

The United States finds international parental child abduction to be a Federal crime.  In the 'International Child Abduction Remedies Act', the United States Congress states that “the international abduction or wrongful retention of children is harmful to their well-being,” and that “persons should not be permitted to obtain custody of children by virtue of their wrongful removal or retention.”

I was not able to find one organization or association that could tell me how many children, on a national basis, were abducted by a family member and how many were returned home safely.

Recently I spoke with Sgt. Jane Boissonneault who is in charge of the National Missing Children Operations (NMCO) with the RCMP wherein she stated that many parental abductions may not be reported to the police.  Parents handle the situation on their own by hiring lawyers and organizations to find their child.  The investigations are the responsibility of the local police who don't always contact NMCO for assistance and the only numbers they do get are from children that are entered into the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) as missing.  The RCMP does not close the file of abducted children until they are returned to their custodial parent or the family has come to an agreement regarding custody of the child.  In some cases, when children that have been reported as missing reach adulthood, they may contact police and request that INTERPOL notices be cancelled so they may travel freely.

I asked Corporal David Falls, Media Relations Officer for the National Communications Services in Ottawa how many children were returned to Canada and he stated, "No statistics regarding numbers of parentally abducted children returned are available for a number of reasons:

• National Missing Children Operations (NMCO) is not always advised of parental child abductions.  The investigations are the responsibility of the local police and there is no requirement for them to advise NMCO, therefore NMCO has no way of knowing how many cases there may be.  NMCO usually only becomes aware of a case when the lead investigative agency requests assistance.
• In some international parental child abduction cases the children and abductors may be located; however,it is not possible to return them to Canada due to local laws, extradition treaties, etc.
• In some cases which are dealt with through the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, the courts in the other country may decide not to return the children to Canada.
• It is possible that while the children and abductor may be located, it is not in the best interests of the abductor or children to be returned.

For these reasons NCMO is not able to state how many parental child abductions there are.  Also, it is possible to resolve an abduction case without returning the children."

Crown Prosecutors do not always follow through on the charges because as soon as the child is recovered, the left behind parent often just wants to move on and put it all behind them.

"There's a heavy impact on the left behind parent and the child so there is a reluctance to carry on with the prosecution even if charges have been laid and the suspect is arrested.  It is sometimes considered not in the best interest of the child to prosecute," says Sgt. Jane Boissonneault.

Biometrics

Biometrics, also called biometric authentication, is used in computer science as a form of identification of humans by their characteristics or traits.  Biometric identifiers are the distinctive, measurable characteristics used to label and depict individuals, and are often categorized as physiological (face, fingerprint, hand, iris, and DNA) and behavioural (keystroke, signature, and voice) characteristics. 

Airlines and government officials advise travellers to have a consent letter from the other parent if they want to fly with a child alone, but this is a voluntary gesture and the reality is that a signature on a letter can be easily forged.  The International Air Transport Association (IATA) confirmed that airlines can do nothing to stop a parent with a child from leaving even when they don't have a letter.  "Since there's no governmental requirement, the airlines have no legal mandate to be checking these," said spokesperson Perry Flint, who added airlines could open themselves up to lawsuits if they refuse to let a paying passenger board.

Border Entry Tightened with Biometrics

refugee claims and nationals arriving without proper documentation or attempting to travel under false identities, as well as their relevance to Canada's foreign and trade policy objectives.  Fingerprints will be checked against the RCMP records of refugee claimants, previous deportees, people with Canadian criminal records, and previous temporary resident applications, before a decision is made.  Border guards would check the biometric information again at the border.

ten years from the reduced negative refugee claims, fewer removals and detentions, it causes me to question how much money our government would save in parental abduction cases.  I can only deduce that the costs incurred by parents procuring legal services in two countries, court costs, hiring private organizations to find their child and travel expenses – combined with the costs incurred by the local and provincial police, the judicial system, NGO's, RCMP, Consular Services (Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada) and Interpol would be much higher than anyone anticipated.

If biometrics, a highly sophisticated authentication tool that encompasses many capacities, is used as a preventative measure for children travelling to other countries how better to avert the tragedy and loss of a child from being abducted, save the Canadian people millions of tax dollars in trying to retrieve the child and effectively discourage parents from abducting their own children.

Once a child has left the country, the odds are against the parent in being successful in locating and/or recovering their abducted child.  The process in laying criminal charges against the abductor is not only complex, time consuming and difficult but may have repercussions that the parent did not expect let alone take into consideration.  Experts advocate 'exit controls' as the only solution and common denominator in preventing parental abductions.  Parents need a security 'exit control' infrastructure that will protect their children.

other child search organizations and media.  Enfant-Retour Québec offers comprehensive educational and prevention programs designed especially for children,

parents and professionals.  Publications that provide guidelines to keep children safe while travelling in public venues are requested daily by educators, families, law enforcement and community organizations. Since 1985, Enfant-Retour Québec has worked with thousands of parents of missing children and personally dealt with close to 400 child abduction cases in 28 years. 

I had an opportunity to speak with Pina Arcamone, the Directrice générale of Enfant-Retour Québec and while our conversation was candid and factual, she made some profound statements that are very much worth noting.

"We fight tooth and nail everyday on their behalf.  We do not take 'no' for an answer because it is not an option.  You can say 'no' to us but we will find the tiniest window and open it.  For all the parents that call our organization when they are in distress we offer them help and hope, and the security and validation in knowing that their child has not been forgotten and will not be another statistic.  The public moves on but these parents cannot because they are in a state of limbo."

"We work closely with our partners in Québec.  If we believe that there is an abduction in progress, we will notify customs, Border Services, Immigration Canada, and local police positioned at the airports and they will intervene at that time."

"Parental abduction is one of the biggest forms of child abuse that goes unreported, undetected, and is vastly unknown.  Out of fear of reprisal, many parents will not notify police that their child has been abducted by the other parent.  We think that these children are safe but they are not safe.  We have to fear for the child's life.  As a society we do not believe that parental abductions are serious and around the world it continues to be a myth that parental abductions are not as serious as criminal abductions."

"A number of years ago we had a two-day 'round table' discussion on parental abductions in Ottawa where the Foreign Affairs Dept. invited all the local NGO's, central authorities and various justice departments across Canada to participate and make recommendations to find a way to eliminate parental abductions.  One recommendation was the possibility of applying trade sanctions against a country that will not adopt the Hague Child Abduction Convention.  At one point, you have to take a stand to protect your own.  I've heard Prime Minister Harper say that he will not have trade deals with China because of human rights issues.  Well, this is a question of human rights as well."

If the other country does extradite the abductor, chances are, the child will not return home with the abductor because children cannot be extradited.  If the child is returned, local child protection services takes temporary custody of your child until a court decides on permanent custody. 

Under the current system, parents can make applications for their child's return under the Hague Child Abduction Convention, but it can take two to three years and several thousand dollars to get their child back, and it can only be accomplished with signatory countries.  At present there are no penalties or repercussions for non-compliance with the Hague Child Abduction Convention.

Ted Davis, a private investigator, stated in the CBC News article on international parental abductions that, "It's a very expensive proposition to initiate extradition on an abduction charge.  It's not a priority [to police].  They don't like getting involved in family cases when it's not a life-threatening situation.  The child's rights are at risk here.  A woman or man who wants to take their child [outside Canada or the U.S.] can simply jump on a plane and leave." 

The Hague Child Abduction Convention states there is a steady increase in international parental abductions.

Passport Offices

At present, Passport Offices are limited in their involvement and somewhat ineffectual when it comes to the security of children in Canada.  Their policy is designed to protect the rights of 'all' parties while attempting to prevent child abduction.  Take into consideration the following:

• Only parents with custodial rights may apply for passport services for a child and the signature of the other parent must 'normally' be provided on the application to indicate awareness of the passport application but even if a signature was on a notarized document it can be forged. The federal government believes it would be unreasonable to adopt a policy making it mandatory for both parents to file for a passport application in person.
• Should a Passport Office receive a verbal request from a parent fearing for the abduction of his/her child, the name of the other parent and name of the child is immediately added to the passport control list even if an application for a passport has not been processed.
• Parents who are deprived of their custodial or access rights by court orders that have not been finalized, will be informed by the Passport Office that an application for passport services is being made in respect of their children.
• Parents may choose to have a separate passport issued to a child or they can add the child's name to one of the parent's passports. While adding a child's name to a parent's passport may be economically feasible – a photograph of the child is not required and therefore creates a loophole for anyone contemplating child smuggling or abduction.
• A child can travel with either parent if the child has his/her own passport but this creates an opportunity for abduction should a non-custodial parent gain access to the child's passport.
• Passport Office employees are expected to contact the other parent each time the slightest suspicion of wrongdoing exists.
• The Passport Office does not plan, at this time, to make it mandatory for all applicants to obtain individual passports for their children. The Canadian Government will continue to examine ways to improve identification of minor children in travel documents.

The Passport Office heads the Canadian delegation, which has representatives from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, RCMP and Transport Canada and the International Civil Aviation Organization - Machine Readable Travel Documents (ICAO-MRTD) committee.  This Committee is establishing standards for international travel documents.  Within this forum, Canada has taken the position that individual passports issued mandatorily to all persons including children ("one person, one passport" policy) does not respond to security and safety concerns of minor children.

The 'Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act (HR1940)' will be introduced to the U.S. Congress this year which proposes establishing an Office on International Child Abductions to promote safeguards to prevent abductions and assist parents in resolving their cases.

Children are not commodities or possessions like household chattel but taking into account the Canadian statistics or lack thereof, I echo what every authority on abductions tells me - parental abductions are a common occurrence and they have been for some time.  Abductors get away with what we allow them to get away with.

The repercussions and extenuating circumstances surrounding parental abduction cases has a 'domino effect' that never seems to stop.  Unless you have direct experience with child abduction or know of someone who is living through such an experience – you will never understand the depth of despair, the financial strains and the emotional roller coaster ride that has become their daily life.

Resources

For additional information, Diligencia Investigative Reporting recommends the following articles and websites:

A Guidebook for Left Behind Parents – Government of Canada

International Child Abduction - Department of Justice Canada

The Crime of Family Abduction – the U.S. Department of Justice

Crimes against Children – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Family Child Abductions - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Parental Abductions Go Unpunished – CBC News

Parental Abductions – Guidelines for Parents – Enfant-Retour Québec – includes valuable 'Information Record' forms that you can download.

The Left-Behind Parents' View of the Parental Abduction Experience:  Its Characteristics and Effects on Canadian Victims - National Missing Children Services - RCMP

2009 Missing Children's Reference Report – National Missing Children Services – RCMP

It Shouldn't Hurt to be a Child – Victims of Violence – Parental Abductions

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – Key Facts

Preventing Parental Child Abduction - Starr Family Law, Barristers and Solicitors

Written by Veronika Bradley, Editor for Children's Safety Association of Canada – February 18, 2013 and Republished by Diligencia Investigative Reporting – April 2019

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