The US will cooperate with the Egyptian government in resolving cases relating to international child abduction by parents, said a US official on Wednesday.
Special Advisor for Children's Issues Ambassador Susan Jacobs said that during her visit to Cairo she had met with a number of Egyptian officials at the Supreme Constitutional Court and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote dialogue concerning these cases.
There are currently 28 cases of children that have been kidnapped from the US and brought to Egypt and 4 cases of children kidnapped from Egypt and brought to the US, said Jacobs during a press conference at the US embassy in Cairo on Wednesday. She went on to say that officials on both sides are trying to locate the abducted children and will act as mediators between parents to resolve these cases if the involved parties are willing to accept these efforts. Child custody arrangements of children kidnapped from the US will be taken into consideration, she said.
Jacobs stressed the importance that children be raised in a healthy environment where they are cared for, protected, and allowed to have a relationship with both parents. Jacobs explained that a parent commits the offence of kidnapping if he takes the child from his country of residence to another country without prior court permission, and that this parental child abduction is a federal crime in the US.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
