§ 21. Helen Jones (Warrington, North) (Lab)What progress has been made in securing better cross-border co-operation to prevent child abduction. [168404]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. David Lammy)The 1980 Hague convention is respected internationally and generally works well. There was a problem in Germany, 745 but the situation has now improved. with the number of German cases falling from 600 to 24. The Foreign Office continues to work bilaterally and regionally with non-Hague convention countries.
§ Helen JonesI am grateful to my hon. Friend for that reply, but I am sure that he will agree that even one case of child abduction is one too many What steps are being taken to deal with the problem through discussion with our partners in the European Union? What can be done through the institutions of the EU to prevent such cases from occurring in future?
§ Mr. LammyI pay tribute to the work that my hon. Friend has done on the all-party group on child abduction. Under the new EU regulation on parental responsibility, which comes into force on 1 March 2005, the court in the state of a child's habitual residence will have the final say on where the child will live. The EU regulation improves the system of cross-border recognition and enforcement and applies not only to children of married couples, but to children more generally.
§ Mrs. Ann Cryer (Keighley) (Lab)Does my hon. Friend feel that a new criminal offence specifically about coercion into marriage may help to reduce the number of children who are moved out of the country for the purpose of marriage? Such a measure may help in a case that I was made aware of at the weekend, in which a father who has amassed gambling debts of £1,500 has sold his daughter for that amount to someone abroad. In the next few weeks or months, he will be taking his daughter abroad to see her married off to the person who has bought her. Does my hon. Friend think that a specific criminal offence may be a shot across the bows in respect of such parents?
§ Mr. LammyI say to my hon. Friend, whom I know continues to take up this cause, that the issue is quite properly a matter for the Home Secretary. I know that she has met him to discuss her concerns. She will know that it is important that the Foreign Office continues to work bilaterally with non-Hague countries, and we have had some success on the matter with those states.