Over the past several years, both state and federal officials have become increasingly accustomed to the problems posed by international child abduction - often the direct result of child custody disputes between parents of differing nationalities boiling over.

While these situations are undoubtedly a nightmare for the parents of the missing children, they can also prove to be especially frustrating from a legal perspective - particularly if the country to which the parent fled is not a signatory to the 1981 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (hereinafter the Hague Convention).

The Hague Convention is a treaty that prohibits parents from fleeing with their children (and without legal permission) to any of the 82 participating countries. However, if a country is not a party to the treaty, a parent has limited legal recourse to bring their child back to their home country.

Unfortunately, this is the reality faced by a Minnesota woman whose boyfriend fled to Kenya with the couple's two young sons.

According to reports, Shem N., 33, had an argument with his girlfriend on August 27, 2011, and later sent her a text message saying that he and the couple's two sons - ages 2 and 4 - would be staying overnight an unnamed location.

However, after Shem N. and the two boys did not return for several days - and after the girlfriend discovered that her son's birth certificates were missing - she contacted the police.

Interestingly, Shem N. eventually called the girlfriend from Kenya on two separate occasions, threatening harm to the younger son on the first call and promising to return with the two boys to the United States by the start of the school year on September 7.

Shem N. never returned and prosecutors in Scott County, Minnesota have since filed both felony kidnapping and deprivation of parental rights charges against him. (He is listed as the father of the two young boys on their birth certificates, but does not have custody of either of them.)

While U.S. State Department officials are currently working with Kenyan law enforcement to locate Shem N., the process may prove to be somewhat difficult as Kenya is not a signatory to the Hague Convention.

Stay tuned for developments from our Phoenix divorce blog ...

If you are currently involved in a child custody dispute or would like more information regarding international child custody, you should strongly consider speaking with an experienced legal professional.

This post is provided for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. Names have been withheld to protect the identity of the parties.

Source:

The Daily Nation, "U.S. police want Kenyan man over abduction of sons" Sept. 21, 2011