Friend's wife has taken one of the children to a non EU country and is staying there and refusing to come back and says she wants the other child too

[Miggsie]

Just discovered that the wife of a friend has taken one child back to her home country (non EU) on a "holiday" but now it appears she intends to stay there for good with the child. She has got a court order from that country to say she gets full custody of the child with her and she is telling her DH to send the other child over and is filing for divorce.

DH says the husband thinks he has lost his children, but I can't see how this can be...the wife was born on that country but has lived in UK for years and both children were born in UK and UK citizens.

The husband is also a bit clueless he says he's been told by citizen's advice that there's nothing he can do. Apparently he's not even been to see a solicitor.

It's a terrible situation as the child left behind thinks her mum hates her and she hasn't seen her mum in weeks and the child in the other country has been put in a school where she doesn't know the language.

What are the father's rights here?

Try www.reunite.org - they specialise in this kind of thing.

Thanks, I'll pass that on to him as soon as possible. I knew there was something dealing with this kind of thing.

How old are the kids?

Depends if that country is signed up to the Hague Convention. If they are and they agree the child is ordinarily resident in the UK then the UK courts will be dealing with it. Your friend needs a child care solicitor, there's a panel that specialises in this type of work.

Children are 9 and 7. It's the young one who is abroad. I've checked and the country is signed to the Hague convention.

He says he can't afford a solicitor but DH is trying to shake him out of his apathy, he is very depressed and DH thinks he is used to doing what his wife says and she has said the court in her country has ordered it and he has to comply.

If he can't afford it then maybe he would get legal aid? He'd certainly get a free initial consultation I'd have thought. Very sad.

He needs to act relatively quickly and Reunite has a list of lawyers who specialise in child abduction cases. Under the Hague Convention the courts in the country where a child is settled (habitually lives) has jurisdiction. In many cases Reunite can negotiate the return of children to the UK without needing to involve the courts.

If the child has been wrongly taken to or retained in the other country he shouldn't have any legal fees to pay. The reunite website should give clearer details.

As everyone else has given info... it might also be worth contacting the press about this abduction!

Don't contact the press for God's sake. That's only useful if the child can't be found, and even then only with the permission of the court.

Your friend could also seek advice from Children Families Across Borders