OSAKA — U.S. President Barack Obama may take up Japan's refusal to sign the 1980 Hague Convention on parental child abductions when he meets with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Friday, two Americans involved with the issue said.
Parental child abductions generally refer to cases in which an estranged spouse takes children away from their home, or country of residence, and refuses to return them, in many cases defying court orders in the home country.
"Various sources in the U.S. government have told me that the issue is on the agenda for the Obama-Hatoyama meeting," said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Paul Toland, who is based in the Washington area and is one of the key individuals involved in getting 22 senators to sign a recent letter urging Obama to put pressure on Hatoyama. However, given Obama's short visit, Toland said even if the issue is on the agenda the president may not have time to raise it sufficiently.