London, Thanasis Gavos

An increasing number of women living in the UK who have been forced by British court orders to hand over or share custody with husbands or partners who they themselves report as violent and manipulative have ‘abducted’ their children and taken refuge in the occupied Cyprus.

A BBC investigation, which looks at the impact of court decisions on guardianship on the future of children and families, has identified at least six women who are now living in the occupied.

As the British channel explains, a mother fleeing Britain with her child under these circumstances constitutes kidnapping under the law.

The choice of occupied Cyprus as a destination is due to the fact that the pseudo-state is not a party to the international treaty on the abduction of minors and also does not maintain any formal agreement with the United Kingdom to extradite suspects for committing crimes.

In at least one case, the local courts have issued a restraining order against the father, so that he has no right to approach the mother and child.

According to the six mothers who spoke to the BBC, there are still hundreds of similar cases.