⚖️ Cayman Islands court orders father to return child from Turkey

The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has issued a ruling ordering a man to return his 8-year-old daughter to her home country after he took her to Turkey without the knowledge or approval of her mother. The father, originally from Turkey, had told the mother he was taking their daughter to the movies but instead flew her to Istanbul. The mother was informed of their whereabouts only after they had landed in the UK en route to Turkey. The father had also purchased one-way tickets, leading the mother to fear he had no intention of returning the child to the Cayman Islands. 🏛️

The court's ruling noted that the father's actions, including taking all of the child's original paperwork, requesting her academic records, and transferring significant funds to his personal Turkish bank account, suggested he intended to permanently relocate the child to Turkey. The law in the Cayman Islands requires permission from all those with parental responsibility or the court to remove a child from the country, neither of which the father had obtained. The judge issued an order requiring the immediate return of the child to the Cayman Islands and preventing the father from obtaining her education records. 📚

Turkey is a signatory to the 1980 Hague Convention on Child Abduction, which mandates the swift return of children to their usual country of residence if they are wrongfully taken. If the father fails to comply with the court's orders, the case will proceed in Turkish courts. The judge noted that defenses to an application under the Convention are limited. The current status of the child and the proceedings in Turkey are unknown. 🌍