A Kitchener judge has ruled a pair of children from Cambridge are being “wrongfully retained” in the Balkan region by their father and need to be brought back.
The order, issued Feb. 21 by Superior Court Justice Michael Gibson, said the children were removed from Canada and brought to Darda, Croatia, on Aug. 5, 2024 while their mother was visiting family in Jamaica without consent.
They have not returned since.
The children, now aged 10 and 11, were both born in Canada and lived in Cambridge until being taken to Croatia having never been there before, the judge’s order said.
The parents have been separated since 2015 and the mother has had limited opportunity to speak with the children since being taken to Croatia, the ruling said.
In January, the father informed the mother he had no plans to return the children to Canada.
The mother has filed a Hague application, which is an international legal mechanism to order the return of a child brought to another country. This application is now with the Central Authority in Croatia for review.
The father did not attend the most recent hearing held on Feb. 21 and after a period of time the judge concluded he did not intend to participate in the hearing.
In making his decision, the judge said the children’s residence was unquestionably Ontario and not Croatia given they had never been there before.
“The focal point of their lives before the wrongful removal was in Ontario – their home, school, doctor, dentist, activities, friends, mother and much of their family are all in Ontario,” he wrote.