International Child Abduction Centre

The International Child Abduction Centre in the Netherlands offers up-to-date information, advice and guidance to everyone who encounters (the threat of) international child abduction, whether as part of their professional or personal lives.
There are legal experts working at the Centre that have specialised in the specific area of international child abduction. They will be glad to advise you about the range of legal options and work with you to find a solution to your problem.

What is international child abduction?
This refers to a situation where a child is illegally taken to another country or is illegally detained there by a parent. By ‘illegal' we mean that it has been carried out in violation of the law of the country in which the child was ordinarily resident, or without permission from the other parent.

Advice and information
You will find general information on this website about issues relating to international child abduction. Choose from the following situations:

• Your child is being threatened with abduction to another country
• Your child has been taken to another country
• You are planning to return to the Netherlands, with your child, from abroad
• You have returned to the Netherlands, with your child, from abroad
• You want to have access to your child abroad