A returning Iraq veteran arrived home to his marriage dissolving, and later, his two children's abduction to Japan. His subsequent three years long fight with Japanese government, even with support from the U.S., has offered no end to his efforts to regain custody, as reported by Fox News.
M.E. returned from Iraq in 2008. Instead of the loving home he left behind, instead he was faced with the end of his marriage.
In the aftermath of his divorce his two children, a 2 year-old boy and 4 year-old daughter, were abducted by his ex-wife, M.N., and taken to her birthplace: Japan. The abduction was a violation of a court order in Bergen County - but in Japan U.S. child custody laws are not recognized. M.E. has not seen his children in person since.
In contacting his local congressmen for support, M.E. has gained some assistance, but still no clear promise that his children will ever be returned to the states.
M.E. said, "It's not that they won't do anything. They can't do anything, they've had some dialogue, but it's like beating a dead horse. Every time, they (Japan) say they are willing to co-operate, but it's been three years. How much longer are they going to be willing?"
During this time Japan had not signed the Hague Convention Treaty - and remained the only nation in the Group of Seven to do so.
The Hague Convention Treaty concentrates its efforts on the civil aspects of international child abduction.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N-J, went to Japan on M.E.'s behalf this last February and has also spoken to the Foreign Affairs Committee. Smith said, "Abducted children are at risk of serious emotional and psychological problems. The U.S. government has a duty to protect these children and fight for their parents who have a right and want to meet their responsibilities of raising their own children. Japan has historically been complicit in these abductions, offering protection without investigation."
When M.E. returned from his Iraq tour, in September of 2008, he saw the beginning of the end of his marriage. After the couple decided to break up, M.E. continued to share his apartment with M.N., situated in his mother's home, so that the children's life would not be further disrupted.
M.E. did not go to court over his custodial rights until M.N. presented him with a legal document that read, in part, that the children could "visit Japan without any restrictions under and circumstances" and that if he didn't comply he would be forced to "surrender and custody rights (of the children) to M.N."
Additionally, M.N. told M.E. that she wanted the right to move their children to Japan any time she desired it. M.E. said, "She created this travel residency document saying that if I don't agree or allow her to do as she pleases, that she could take the kids and leave. Right away, that was a red flag for me. I hired a lawyer, and we went to court."
A judge awarded shared custody, but also ordered that M.N. stay in the state and surrender her passport.
M.N. worked in New York's Japanese Consulate, issuing visas and passports, but when she tried to forge one she was fired. Then she tried to have a passport made again, this time through people she knew at the Chicago Consulate.
Eventually she did leave the country, with her children and boyfriend, in a flight on December 6, 2008 from O'Hare to Tokyo.
M.E. is still unaware of his children's exact location in Japan.
Bergen County has since granted him full custody, but, the judge was unaware that Japan was not obliged - due to not being a signatory of the Hague Convention Treaty - to return the children to the U.S.
Japan did agree to sign the treaty this past summer, but will only apply it to future incidents.
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