Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has received representations on delays or challenges in securing the return of British children from Poland under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

This Government takes International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) extremely seriously. Affected parents have reported issues to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office regarding the enforcement of Polish court orders requiring the return of abducted children to the UK. I met the Rt. Honourable Member's constituent in January to discuss his daughter's abduction and the devastating toll IPCA takes on those affected. This Government will continue to raise the issue at every appropriate opportunity with the Polish authorities, including at ministerial level.