Indian-Americans seek US intervention on abducted children

A group of Indian-Americans has sought diplomatic intervention from the Obama Administration to secure return of their children allegedly abducted by one of their parents and taken to India.

In a recent meeting with Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal, a group of parents under the aegis of 'Bring Our Kids Home' (BOKH), sought help of the US Government in this regard.

"We have been advocating for our children's return from India and seeking a long term mechanism between the US and India to prevent this terrible crime," the group said in a media release yesterday.

"Given the new revelations of Department of State inflating assessment of 14 countries with questionable human trafficking records for its 2015 report, we believe greater transparency and accountability is necessary in the reporting of American children, victims of international parental child abductions to India and other countries," the press statement said.

International Parental Child Abductions (IPCA) impacts thousands of American children and families. Each year over 1,000 American children are abducted by one one of their parents from the US to other countries. India is among the top five destinations for abducted American children, the statement claimed.

The US Congress has taken note of the difficult ground realities and systemic problems that victims have to overcome and conducted several hearings in 2015 to ensure the Goldman Act, 2014 is fully implemented by Obama Administration and result in return of American children.

On June 11, Ravi Parmar (a left behind father and co-founder BOKH) testified in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing about challenges left behind parents face both in the US and India in returning abducted children.

On July 16, Dr Samina Rahman (a left behind mother and member BOKH) testified in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing about concerns about the 2015 IPCA report published by the US and the plight of victim families and children of this crime.