Philip Dexter, whose own child is at the centre of an international custody battle, has started an organisation for parents in a similar situation.
|||Cape Town
- Politician Philip Dexter, whose own child is at the centre of an international custody battle, has started an organisation aimed at helping parents in a similar situation – with the father of the five-year-old girl ordered back to Belgium last week one of his first contacts.
The initial focus of People Against the Parental Abduction of Children (Papac), launched in July, is fund-raising to help parents involved in three specific cases other than his own.
“Initially, it was just as a support group, for people who were in the same position as myself. But as we were receiving legal advice from lawyers and experts, we started offering advice too,” he explained.
One of the other cases
involved a Zimbabwean family, while they had, through negotiations and arbitration, resolved a case involving a Congolese family.
Dexter’s daughter, now six, was taken to India in October last year by his ex-wife.
India is not a signatory to the Hague Convention, and Dexter said an Indian court had ordered that the matter be resolved in SA.
He had only spoken to his daughter twice in the past six months, and had not seen her since she was taken away, Dexter said this week.
His ex-wife had asked for a review of the Indian court order, which is expected to be heard later this month.
Dexter is hoping to travel to India soon, and said he had submitted a written request for access to his daughter.
“In my case, I have had no support from the government. And in cases like this, finance is a huge issue. I’ve had to sell my house and car.”
Weekend Argus