§ Mr. Butcherasked the Lord Privy Seal how many requests have been received by the consular department in each of the last 10 years, or other convenient period for which figures are available, for the tracing of children born in the United Kingdom who have been taken out of the United Kingdom against the wishes of their British parent; if he will list the missions abroad which have dealt with the requests; and how many cases were dealt with by each mission.
270W
§ Mr. LuceThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office receives many requests to trace relatives believed to be overseas, but statistics are not recorded either totally, or by category. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Requests cover many parts of the world, but particularly the Americas, the Middle East and the Sub-continent. In most cases they are associated with requests for assistance in recovering children. Any question of the custody of such a child is a matter which can only be decided by the courts of the country where the child is present. The return of the child to a parent in this country can be pursued only through legal channels. This is the case even if a British court has made an order concerning the custody of a child, since only the overseas law can say what relevance if any may be accorded to a British court order.