Press Releases: United States Partners With Fiji Under Hague Abduction Convention


Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

May 2, 2017


On May 1, 2017, the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Convention) entered into force between the United States and Fiji. The United States now has 76 partners under the Convention.

The Convention is a valuable civil law mechanism for parents seeking the return of children who have been wrongfully removed from or retained outside their country of habitual residence by another parent or family member. Parents seeking access to children residing in treaty partner countries may also invoke the Convention. The Convention is critically important because it establishes a legal framework between partner countries to resolve parental abduction cases. The Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues serves as the Central Authority for the United States under the Convention. We welcome this partnership with Fiji and look forward to working together on this critical issue.

For more information about international parental child abduction, please visit: https://travel.state.gov/content/childabduction/en.html.

For press inquiries, please contact CAPRESSREQUESTS@state.gov or (202) 485-6150.