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War Within Families: How Child Custody Battles Impact Foreign Affairs
Cases of international parental child abduction have recently garnered significant media and Congressional attention. A particular case with Brazil has received wide press coverage, from CNN to Oprah, detailing the long, painful journey for the young boy’s father and his supporters. Secretary Clinton raised the case with the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the matter has been the subject of numerous high-level meetings between U.S. officials and the Brazilian government. Sadly, this incident is not alone. In a recent joint press conference involving Secretary Clinton and Egypt's foreign minister, a reporter asked about a longstanding parental abduction of an American girl to Egypt. Cases with Japan, Costa Rica, Mexico, and with South Korea have also drawn international attention lately. In fact, records kept by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues show more than 1,600 children wrongfully taken or kept abroad by a parent during 2008 – a sharp increase from previous years. Additionally, records indicate nearly 500 children abducted to the United States from other countries during the last year.