In more than 75% of all child abduction cases, family members are the perpetrators responsible for this heinous crime. This statistic shared by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is coupled with an emphasis on the risk such an abduction poses to the child’s life and the immensely

harmful impact it has on the minor’s overall wellness.

My son, CJ, is a victim of such a crime and I need your help to bring him home. He was born in July 2021 at the Rockyview Hospital, in Calgary, Alberta. What should have been the best time in our lives and a time to celebrate the joyous occasion of the birth of a baby boy, quickly turned into a

nightmare. His mother developed severe postpartum depression and anxiety and was soon afterward admitted to the Rockyview psychiatric ward.

This type of treatment would’ve helped our young family to overcome this unfortunate obstacle, but she refused to take her medication and didn’t engage in the treatment. It meant that she was discharged and returned home without any relief. While having our family reunited should have

been a joyous occasion, it only brought on more challenges.

CJ should’ve been able to rely on his mother’s nurture and protection. Instead, she admitted to having thoughts of harming him and drugging him with adult sleep medication. Her anxiety was fuelled by fears of her incompetence as a parent coming to light and at times even suggested that

we give him up for adoption.

Our situation left me to be the primary caregiver of our child. Having a newborn is a challenging time in any home, but the severity of my wife’s depression brought about a far heavier burden to carry. So, when she suggested that we go for a family vacation to South Africa shortly before our son

turned one, I considered it to be an excellent break and something that will bring a healthy family dynamic to our lives.

Sadly, I was fooled as she camouflaged her plan exceptionally well. We both took two weeks leave from work in Canada after she booked return tickets for our stay. The nightmare started upon arrival in South Africa. I was confronted with the truth when she told me that she isn’t returning to Canada and won’t let CJ come home with me either.

She took the law into her own hands, leaving me no option but to return home alone, to take care of all responsibilities we had from building our lives as Canadian citizens.

For more than 10 months, my son, still a baby, is unlawfully retained in a country plagued by systematic corruption continuously impoverishing the nation and sustaining a persistent increase in violent crimes. Crime statistics for South Africa reveal a dire image of a nation exposed to 83 murders and 169 sexual crimes daily. During the past year, more than 20,000 carjackings took place, a crime often turning violent, meaning even an innocent trip to a play school or shop exposes my child to the realities faced by South Africans daily.

Since my return to Canada, I’ve relentlessly worked through the Hague Convention to get my son to come back home, but this is a process that is becoming too expensive for me to carry. What adds to the immense price tag is the delays caused by the legal system in South Africa. While a

similar case was resolved through the Hague Convention in a Canadian court in less than four months, my case, relying heavily on the cooperation of South African courts, has been ongoing for more than 10 months with no resolution in sight yet.

The Hague Convention operates through a system of National Central Authorities to ensure that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Art. 21) is enforced. It safeguards intercountry adoptions to be in the best interest of the minor and its rights and prevents abduction, sale, and trafficking of

children. Sadly, the South African Central Authority, financially crippled as this too has been affected by years of high-level corruption, lacks the necessary funds to follow the procedures stipulated by the Hague Convention, causing immense delays in the process.

As I’ve been the primary caregiver to my child during his first year of life, there is an exceptionally strong bond between us, a bond I have desperately fought to maintain. As part of my defense, I have sworn affidavits from our nanny and a social worker assigned to our case, confirming the connection

between myself and my son.

That said, his mother has been successful in misleading the South African legal system and so, delaying procedures, and extending the time I spend apart from CJ. She is arguing in the local court that CJ will return to an intolerable situation upon return to his home in Canada, a lie that can be proven to be false through substantiating evidence.

The only legal route left for me to take is to turn to the Supreme Court in South Africa, an immensely expensive legal venture that will incur legislative costs of roughly CAD $32,000, an expense I can’t afford.

I refuse to give up on my child and I am asking Canada to help me protect one of their own. This is a nation that received me with warmth and welcomed my son into life. It is the place we call home. Now, please help me to bring my son back to where he belongs.

The fight to get CJ back home is an expense I can no longer carry on my own. Yet, I remain hopeful that I’ll get the much-needed financial aid to have him spend his second birthday back with me in Canada, where he belongs.