Many parents are not aware that taking their own child to another country without the consent of the other parent could be viewed as “abduction” under the Hague Convention. Since Singapore became a signatory in 2010, the 1980 multilateral treaty has been a source of struggle for a number of often unsuspecting foreign spouses here.

AWARE encounters some of these cases through the Helpline, often from women who are trapped in abusive marriages but are unable to return to their country of origin with their children. “We’re bringing together all these experiences, not just for legal information sharing, but to also understand the realities of people going through this situation.” said Lim Xiu Xuan, Community Engagement Executive of AWARE.

These experiences were brought to light when 30 people gathered at the AWARE centre on the evening of 27 July to learn more about the Hague Convention and the legal options available to affected spouses.

The roundtable opened with guest speaker Ms Lim’s sharing of her courage to leave her abusive husband to return to her country of origin with her child. However, her first exposure to Hague Convention was with shock and panic. Following legal advice, she left the country with her child to escape the abuse but later discovered from another lawyer that she had to return her child back to where her spouse resided, otherwise she would be deemed as a criminal under the Hague Convention.

Ms Lim highlighted that in many cases, people like herself who may be affected by the Hague Convention were not aware of its existence. Not only is the word ‘abduction’ under the Convention archaic, the accusation further intimidates women who are already in such vulnerable situations. She pointed out that there should be measures in place to avoid unintentionally getting into trouble and more public education on the Hague Convention.

When participants were invited to share their experiences, the unique vulnerability of foreign spouses emerged as an especially salient issue that compounded the effects of the Hague Convention. The group shared more about the financial dependency and struggles that came with their immigration status, the need for protection of women in such vulnerable situations, and the inaccessibility of free legal clinics in Singapore for foreign spouses.

Guest speakers for the talk, Ms. June Lim from Eden Law Corporation and Ms Susan Tay from OTP Law Corporation, shared information about the different aspects of Hague convention and introduced Project Relocation, an initiative between their respective law firms to provide accessible legal help to foreign spouses seeking to return to their countries with their children. Participants were also given a step-by-step guide on how they could apply to Project Relocation and the kind of help they would receive.

Corinna Lim, Executive Director of AWARE, reassured participants that their foreign citizenship would not undermine AWARE’s determination to support them. AWARE plans to raise more awareness on the Convention and provide educational resources and guides for foreign spouses in Singapore. Those interested to be part of this working group can write to wecan@aware.org.sg.

If you are contemplating leaving the country with your children, and are unsure about whether you can do so, please call the AWARE Helpline at 1800 777 5555 to arrange for a legal information session.