Excerpts: "A study suggests the proportion of returns under the Hague Convention on child abduction fell between 2003 and 2008 and that cases took longer. Cardiff University Professor Nigel Lowe says his study sends "warning signs" about the treaty's overall performance. ... The Cardiff study compared figures from 2008 with those from five years earlier and found there was a 45% increase in the number of applications to get children back, that the proportion of returns had declined and cases took longer to resolve. ...
"Lady Catherine Meyer - whose two sons were detained overseas by her ex-husband 10 years ago and who now runs the charity Parents and Abducted Children Together - said the time for diplomacy alone was over. 'If we go pussyfooting like this all the time, nothing is ever going to change. We need to be much more firm. The Hague Convention is better than nothing but it is absolutely not fool proof and some countries do not abide by it the way they should.'
More at: "Warnings over abduction treaty" By Jon Douglas, Face the Facts, BBC Radio 4 and even more on a BBC Radio 4 programat 4:00 EDT today, "Face the Facts: The Stolen Families" at 4:00 EST. It is already available on on BBC iPlayer.