I am going to get slaughtered for this I know but I think the lack of news/response over the kidnapping of a 3 year old girl shows that ...

[wannaBe]

one child's plight is more important than another in the eyes of some.

She is also three, she is also Brittish, Yes she is currently still alive but there is a threat over her life, but it doesn't seem as relevant somehow.

is it because she's in a country most wouldn't travel to?

because she was taken by rebels and not paedophiles?

I'm sure her family have great comfort in knowing she's with a bunch of gun-toting rebels who've been known to rape and murder children or turn them into boy soldiers.

And that she was snatched not in her sleep but screaming and hollering from a car.

And where are Richard Branson and JK Rowling digging into their pockets to stump up her ransom?

spot on expat

We sure wouldn't, lapin.

As pointed out, children of wealthy Nigerian businessmen have also been kidnapped.

This brings back some memories for me! S. America in the late 1970s and early 80s.

Gotta be on your guard from the get-go.

The media (and the public - call me cynical) probably has "small child missing" fatigue. I think the media only has room for one type of story at a time. I remember years ago there was a little girl in the North-West (Kirsty something) with some kind of rare life threatening disease. She was constantly in the Manchester Evening News, she had celebrities raising money for her, funds were raised to send her to the States for special treatment etc. I happened to be watching Richard and Judy one day (shows how long ago this is!) and they had a little boy on with the same condition. His parents had tried to raise the same level of interest in the media as Kirsty's parents and been hit by a brick wall of indifference - they had their charity "poster child" already.

I also think with the little girl in Nigeria there is an element of what were they doing there anyway/it's a dangerous place/they somehow brought it upon themselves and they knew the risks (as in the backlash when Britons working in danger zones have been kidnapped). Whereas with Medleine McCann - she was on holiday, in a place that was perceived as safe, and many people could identify with her parents - they weren't doing anything out of the ordinary.

I hope they get her back, safe and sound, soon.

Maybe if she was blond haired and blue eyed the media might be more interested?

echo expats last post.

I also agree wannabe , the lower profile of this story on the news last night and the low key reposnse on here had struck me too. It is no less tragic or dreadful imho and this is still a "it could be me" story . Presumably we don't all drive with car doors locked (a risk judgement ?). It just happens that this sort of abduction is apparently more commonplace with less risk of being caught in Nigeria.

but if there were more international coverage of these things, then it's possible that something could be done about it. Governments don't like having bad press about their countries, so maybe more coverage is exactly what's needed in order to kick their asses into doing something about these rebels.

just because kidnapping is common place in those parts of the world doesn't make it any less tragic.

And I bet if she'd been abducted without a trace in Nigeria the amount of news coverage would still be the same. because she's not a pretty blonde child, because abduction is so common and because it's africa.

wannaBe - I am not sure that govt of Nigeria are worried about international bad press - it has never bothered them before

they would be if international bad press led to big companies pulling their staff out of there.

and am with you expat.

I think you will find that international big companies do not pull out of places like this - they have compounds and security staff when the tough gets going.

Don't think that big companies care more for their staff than their profits

Thought this immediatley I heard it.

Feel for both the families, but I wonder how other parents will feel if their child goes missing after the publicity that the McCanns have managed to obtain, if they can't get the same level for their child.

But if I was the McCanns I would be behaving in exactly the same way.

Quite, Noodle.

As someone who grew up with a Shell employee as only breadearner, your post is spot on.

In my dad's case, he started working offshore just as part of the deal.

Then, during the major oil crash, it was literally a case of either take assignments abroad or join the ranks of thousands of similary-qualified out of work ex-oil employees competed for the limited shore jobs.

So away he went.

Believe me, he was compensated well for the risks, and he did walk away from some that he felt carried just too great a risk.

But he now enjoys a very, very comfortable retirement indeed.

Maybe the parents don't want major press coverage. Maybe they know from previous kidnappings that it might inflame the kidnappers. Maybe they just don't want to talk to the media.

"I also think with the little girl in Nigeria there is an element of what were they doing there anyway/it's a dangerous place/they somehow brought it upon
themselves and they knew the risks (".

perhaps, but similar had been said about the Mccanns because of them leaving their children unattended and this was jumped on and immediately dismissed as being totally normal and how dare anyone question that when their child is missing.

This family have no more brought this on themselves than the Mccanns.

Here, here, wannabe!

Spot on!

I was wondering if it would have received any coverage at all had it not been for the MMC story.

The sad truth is that children go missing every day and we pay little or no attention to it. It's absolutely true to say that because Margaret is living in a world that few of us identify with then we block it out.

I think a lot of the reaction to the Madeleine case is a defence mechanism on our behalf because we know it could have been us.

I think if MMC were black and MH were white, the reactions to both stories would be the same. It's the fact that poor MH is in Nigeria that lessens the news coverage, as if the lives of African children are less worthy.

All this 'it could have happened to us' about the McCann case.

It could have happened to about 5% of the people in the UK who could afford to go on such a holiday and then leave their kids alone in a ground floor flat with a pool yards away so they could have a meal on their own.

This could not have happened to the majority of folks living in the UK, I'd venture to guess.

glad to see somebody had the courage to post the lack of media interestin the story in comparison to the McCann case.

I hadn't even heard about Margaret Hill until (Twig?) mentioned it on another thread last night, although admittedly I hadn't seen any news.

I think we also have to look at the point of publicity. With Madeleine McCann, at least the supposed raison d'etre for massive publicity is that she could be anywhere and the public need to be familiar with her face. This isn't really the case in Nigeria - in fact a high degree of publicity may actually be detrimental to negotiations. I'm sure that's not the only reason, and others stated by posters are also true, but the parents may actually not want publicity in this case.

I absolutely agree with expats post of 10:09:32

Oh I completely agree, Expat!
Personally, I would never go on a MW holiday as they're not for me. But, I still believe it's that sentiment that hasgiven rise to the outrage.