Abducting a child is a serious business. It's a criminal offence (punishable by
imprisonment) whether the abduction is to another country or within the UK, to
remove a child from the parent with whom they have been living. It includes a
refusal to return a child after a contact visit.
So, if a child is removed in circumstances amounting to abduction, all sorts
of emergency procedures can be brought into action. All Courts have emergency
contacts, and a judge can authorise various orders, such as 'port stops' and
'seek and find orders' authorising court officials and the Police to locate and
protect a child.
It may be a storm in a teacup. Children spending summer holidays with the
other parent may not want to go home at the end of the holiday. The rule is
that, unless there is strong evidence that they will come to real harm, they
must go home while an application for change in residence is pending.
Or it may be a case of abduction to a foreign country. The UK is party to the
Hague Convention, which requires the immediate return of children to their home
jurisdiction unless certain exceptions apply, which covers Europe, America and
Australia - but not Africa or Asia. Governments in Convention countries have
special Legal Aid procedures to help parents whose children have been abducted,
usually by providing representation in their courts.
Nothing is straightforward. People are more mobile these days and cultures
more diverse. Our own courts have stringently observed the Hague Convention (and
the many exceptions to it), other countries have varying reports. A threat or
attempt to abduct a child to another country should always be treated seriously.