Yeah, one of the "solutions" that some are proposing for the growing problem of international child abduction is to just give mothers permission to "relocate" with the children.
One of the better comments from the article...
"And what's to stop that parent calling the other's bluff and carrying the children back to their home country? They may have genuine, solid reasons to return - "
That happens quite often in the case of African or Middle Eastern fathers who after a divorce follow their cultural traditions and bring their children with them. That is called kidnapping, and the European mothes are the first to cry out loud about the injustice in this, and rightly so. They leave us in no doubt who is the evil part in such cases. But I've never heard anyone ever say "The other parent would have to be a real arse to start extradition proceedings." about the mothers trying to get their children back.
We cannot have one set of rules for mothers and another for fathers.
Whether it is the mother or father who wants to leave, they have voluntarily accepted to have children in their country of residence, expats or not. Having children is a responsibility that imposes certain limits on one's freedom. Someone who doesn't accept that limitation might want to think twice about marrying and having children. If it is paramount to be flexible and able to travel all over the globe at a whim, it may be better to stay single. You can't have your cake and eat it. If establishing a family is paramount, then one must expect that expatriating all over the place won't be as simple as before.
Today, "me", "my personal freedom" etc. seems to be all that counts for some people, whereas responsibilities are becoming outdated, as if that was some sort of museum for old farts. Responsbility isn't just about paying one's tax but of acknowledging that one's actions may have consequences in the future. Personal freedom ends where it starts negatively affecting someone else's freedom or rights, in this case the rights of the children to have access to both of their parents. There is no place for selfish behaviour in such questions. The trouble is that too many mothers seem to consider their children their personal property, fathers being some optional extra that can be disposed of when inconvenient.
