Result of the Questionnaire Survey on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention on Child Abduction)

February 2, 2011
Japanese

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) conducted a questionnaire survey from late May to the end of November of 2010, through the websites of the Ministry and its overseas missions, targeting the Japanese people with experience of being involved in a case concerning the international transfer of children.
MOFA has published the result of the survey. The overview of the result is as follows.

(1) The number of respondents is 64.
(2) Breaking down by cases, 18 are cases in which the respondent took away children, 19 are cases in which the respondent had children taken away, and 27 are cases in which the respondent was subject to the restriction of movement with children.
(3) By country, the greatest number of cases, 26, involved the United States, followed by 9 cases for Australia and 7 cases for Canada.
(4) With regard to the conclusion of the Hague Convention on Child Abduction, 22 respondents clearly indicated that it should be concluded, whereas 17 respondents clearly indicated that it should not be concluded.
MOFA has so far seriously considered the possibility of concluding the Hague Convention on Child Abduction, working closely together with relevant ministries and agencies. It will step up this process further in order to come to an early decision, while giving consideration to various opinions gathered from all sources including this survey.
MOFA expresses appreciation to those who cooperated for the survey.

(*This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

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