Between 2022/2023 around 1100 children were abducted in the uk.

According to the charity missing people, around 70,000 children are reported missing every year in the UK

In the UK it is not a criminal offence for a parent to retain a child from their home of residence. Whether they are retained in the UK or taken overseas. 

Even if a child contact arrangement order has been broken, it is not a criminal offence. On the bases that it is a civil matter and being dealt within the civil courts.

This makes locating a child outside of the UK extremely difficult as most of the time the police forces involved will only deal with other police forces to locate the child.

Any retention or abduction of a child should be classed as a crime even if a court order is in place.

Children should not be put at risk, from parents who intend not to return the child to their country of residence. 

In the US wrongful retention is a crime.