Senators urge parental abduction talks

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- International parental child abduction must be broached when President Barack Obama meets with Japanese leaders, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators said.

In a letter to Obama, the senators also asked the administration to work with the Japanese government to reunite American children with their American parent, Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., said in a news release.

Webb said letter, signed by 23 senators, also builds upon efforts to help Virginia constituents whose children have been abducted then taken to Japan.

"Many parents have not seen or heard from their children in years," the letter said. "We cannot sit back and wait while these children grow up without one parent."

The letter said it was important that Japan honor The Hague Convention on International Child abduction. Japan does not recognize international parental child abduction as a crime, Webb said.

"There are currently 79 known cases involving over 100 American children who have been abducted by a parent to Japan," the letter said. "This is a heartbreaking loss for the left-behind parent and deprives the child of a relationship with two loving parents. Equally concerning is that left-behind parents typically have little recourse once their child arrives in Japan."