§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on the case of the abduction of Alexander Saharievski from his home in Liverpool.
The Attorney-GeneralBoth the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia, to which Alexander Saharievski was taken by his father, have signed and ratified the Hague convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction. An obstacle to the making of an application for Alexander's return to this country was presented by the fact that Yugoslavia has not yet been able to designate a central authority for the processing of applications under the convention. However, the staff of the child abduction unit of the Lord Chancellor's Department, which provides the central authority for England and Wales, and of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have been able to assist in finding a lawyer in Yugoslavia for Alexander's mother and in securing the agreement of the Macedonian Ministry of Justice to accept an application under the convention and the urgent assistance of the local authorities in Yugoslavia in tracing Alexander's current whereabouts. Staff will continue to assist in any way they can, and it is hoped that it will not be long before Alexander can be reunited with his mother.