'On the Road' Find Andrew John Thompson European Cycle Crusade 2010

Stronger laws to deal with international parental child abduction

2011-09-19T20:13:00.002+10:00

The Australian media is reporting today on plans by the Australian Government to introduce legislation that will extend the range of scenarios under which International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) is a criminal offence in this country.

The Government is also proposing legislation that will empower the Family Court of Australia to suspend child support payments to parents who abduct children from Australia.

The proposed changes are very welcome but they fall short of introducing a general criminal offence to cover all cases of IPCA from Australia & not just those that are before the Family Court, or when one parent doesn't honour an agreement to return a child that has been taken to another country for a holiday & then retained without the consent of either the other parent or the Family Court of Australia.

Australia has one of the highest (if not the highest) per capita rate of IPCA in the developed world. The Australian Attorney-General himself describes IPCA as “an unimaginable horror happening at an unacceptable rate”. IPCA is also an extreme act of domestic violence by one parent against the other.

Hopefully the introduction of a general criminal offence & several related issues will be addressed when the Senate Enquiry into IPCA submits its report to the Australian Government on 31st October 2011.

Click here for link to Attorney-General's media release

Parliament of Australia: Inquiry into International (parental) child abduction to and from Australia

2011-09-01T08:25:00.008+10:00

The full transcript of the Senate inquiry public hearing held on 26 August 2011 is now available. Those interviewed include left behind parents Ken Thompson and Lauchlan Leishman, Australian Federal Police, International Social Services Australia, Attorney-General's Department, Australian Passport Office, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Legal Aid, Women's Legal Services, National Council for Single Mothers and their Children, Women's Legal Service Australia.

Click here for the full transcript

Click here for second hearing transcript 22/9/2011

Daniel Morcombe

2011-08-14T22:03:00.004+10:00

Almost eight years ago in December 2003, 13 year old Daniel Morcombe disappeared while waiting for a bus on Australia's Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane (Queensland), to take him to a nearby shopping centre where he was going to buy Christmas presents for his family.

Despite a huge search; a national media campaign, and a one million dollar reward he was never found.

Bruce and Denise Morcombe always held on to a hope that their son would be found alive, but Queensland Police yesterday (13th August 2011) charged a man with Daniel's murder.

The police are now searching for Daniel's body so his family can say he has been found before he is finally buried with dignity.

The Morcombe family actively supported me in my search for my own son while they were still searching for Daniel. I will be forever grateful for their support.

A nation is now grieving for Daniel Morcombe. My thoughts today are very much with Bruce and Denise, as well as with the rest of their family and friends. And of course, with Daniel himself.

Parliament of Australia: Inquiry into International child abduction to and from Australia

2011-08-09T19:43:00.005+10:00

Click here for Ken's submission to the Senate Inquiry

On 11 May 2011 the Senate referred the following matter to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committees for inquiry and report.

The incidence of international child abduction to and from Australia, including:

(a) the costs, terms and conditions of legal and departmental assistance for parents whose child has been abducted overseas;

(b) the effectiveness of the Hague Convention in returning children who were wrongly removed or retained, to their country of habitual residence;

(c) the roles of various Commonwealth departments involved in returning children who were wrongly removed or retained, to their country of habitual residence;

(d) policies, practices and strategies that could be introduced to streamline the return of abducted children; and

(e) any other related matters.

Click here for all submissions submitted

Posted by Blog Coordinator

Congratulations Ken on winning the Father's Day Trophy 2011 in The Netherlands

2011-07-04T16:23:00.002+10:00

To see the video announcement of the Father's Day Award click here

To read the English translation click here

Posted by Blog Coordinator

Statement

2011-02-04T09:37:00.005+11:00

At the following link is a statement issued on 31 January 2011. Statement link click here

Posted by Blog Coordinator

Mediation and Legal Proceedings

2010-10-21T11:31:00.005+11:00

Mediation and legal proceedings in relation to Andrew's return to Australia are about to commence in The Netherlands.

To enable these proceedings to be undertaken in the most constructive environment possible I will not be making any further media comment.

I won't be discussing the proceedings on this blog; www.findandrew.com, or on any other social networking medium.

I will continue to provide updates on my general activities.

Thanks for all your support.

Distance: 20 km

Weather: Rain (& sleet!)

The Silent Epidemic

2010-10-19T11:53:00.001+11:00

It's unfortunate that there are some people who are quick to take sides when an event like an International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) takes place. Most of these people have no idea about the facts behind each case & most of them have no access to the evidence that surrounds each case.

Both sides just seem to jump to a conclusion based on nothing more than their own ideological views.

It is a fact that about 90% of abductions from countries like Australia to countries that are signatories to The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abductions (Convention) are carried out by mothers.

It is also a fact that about 90% of abductions from countries like Australia to non-Convention signatory countries are carried out by fathers.

Around the world, many thousands of children are abducted across international borders every year by one of their parents. IPCA has become such a large phenomenon that it is now referred to as "The Silent Epidemic".

If we listen to arguments that are being put forward in several forums at the moment, all the mothers who are doing this must be fleeing abusive relationships &/or protecting the children from predatory fathers. If we follow the same logic, then all the fathers who are doing this must also be fleeing abusive relationships &/or protecting the children from predatory mothers.

None of this makes sense. None of the research bears it out either.

The truth is that children are abducted across international borders by one of their parents for many reasons. These include either a belief that some form of abuse has taken place when it hasn’t (towards either the parent or the child or both); some form of abuse has actually taken place; major cultural &/or religious differences exist between the parents, or there has been a breakdown in a relationship in which there are children & one parent wants to return to the security & familiarity of their own family in another country.

The common theme that seems to underpin the majority of abductions though is that the abducting parent is hoping to find a legal jurisdiction that they feel will be more sympathetic to their attempts to have custody of the child than the country they have abducted the child from.

This is the very thing the Convention is designed to overcome & it is the reason why the vast majority of children who are abducted from one signatory state (country) to another are returned promptly when they are located. This is the stated intent of the Convention.

The Convention strives to maintain the legal jurisdiction of the country the child was located in as the one that is best placed to decide on issues of a child's custody, & for access for the non-custodial parent.

There are only three circumstances under which a court presiding over a Convention application can decide to not return a child. The explanatory notes that were issued when the Convention was established more than 30 years ago state that the provisions that were designed o address those circumstances are meant to be interpreted as narrowly as possible to make sure the very strong foundations upon which the Convention are built are protected.

It is highly inappropriate for anyone to take any kind of law into their own hands &/or to unilaterally decide where a child should live when a relationship between two parents breaks down. If the parents aren't able to reach agreement on this important issue between themselves as part of their international legal responsibilities to protect their children's rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, then it becomes the role of an appropriate court in the jurisdiction in which the child is living, or what is called the child's 'country of habitual residence', to help make that decision either with both parents (through mediation if possible), or for them if mediation is unsuccessful.

No-one has a right to form up their own court; decide for themselves what evidence is admissible & what isn't; decide whether or not a witness is competent or incompetent, or to hand down a final judgment on a child's life - particularly one that involves taking that child to another country without the consent of the child's other parent.

In an increasing number of countries this is now a crime. In Australia it is a crime when parenting matters are before the courts when an abduction takes place. As with any other crime, people who commit these types of crimes must be prepared to accept the full consequences of their actions when they are caught. The same goes for anyone who conspires with them (or with others) to pervert the course of justice, & for anyone who aids & abets them before & after the event.

These are the same principles that apply to any other criminal act.

Our laws lay the foundations for the fundamental rules by which our societies live & our legal systems are there to make sure they are adhered to. If our laws aren’t obeyed, the whole fabric of our society falls apart. The most serious breach of our laws is Contempt of Court since this undermines the whole structure of our legal systems.

If any of us step outside this legal framework we need to be prepared to accept the consequences. However, history shows us time & time again that the same people who are so bold & brash when they break our laws are usually the first to claim that their case should be heard in another jurisdiction; claim extenuating circumstances when they are caught, and then plead for mercy when they are convicted & sentenced.

Distance: 60 km
Weather: Wet

BRING ANDREW THOMPSON HOME NOW!

2010-10-18T15:55:00.003+11:00

Andrew Thompson is FOUND, but not RECOVERED.

Bureaucratic process is keeping Andrew in a child-care centre with only 3 visits a week from the father who searched the world for him. and who is now so near and yet so far ... . If you can support Ken at this time, could you mobilise your friends to send the following email Just copy and paste. There's no need to include the message, just the title line will do, but the message is good too.We need thousands! Please help! Thank you.

Address: extradition@ag.gov.au; R.McClelland.MP@aph.gov.au; attorney@ag.gov.au

Title of email: BRING ANDREW THOMPSON HOME NOW!

cc: Tom.Lynch@ag.gov.au

Body of email (Optional)

Attention: Lisa Wyman

Andrew Thompson was found on Father's Day, 5 September 2010. He is still in state care in the Netherlands. We ask you to restore him to his father and RECOVER him to his home in Australia.

Thank you.

Day 155 - Cross-border Mediation & Johanna’s Story

2010-10-15T10:37:00.005+11:00

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Convention) is the international legal mechanism by which an abducted child is returned to its ‘country of habitual residence’. The stated intent of the Convention is to ensure abducted children are returned promptly so that parenting & other matters can be decided in the country the child was abducted from.

The quickest way for this to happen is through the voluntary return of an abducted child. This can now be achieved through a process called Cross-border Mediation (CBM). I understand this a new process that is designed to bring both parents together with trained mediators over two or three consecutive days to find a way forward that will see abducted children returned voluntarily to their ‘country of habitual residence’ more quickly than has been the case in the past .

In the past, voluntary agreements have typically required the abducting parent to work through the issues associated with the voluntary return of an abducted child largely on their own. The means a lot of uncertainty surrounds the issues that are still outstanding at the time a child is returned. As I understand it, CBM is designed to take much of the uncertainty out of these issues by having them addressed through the CBM process before a child is returned. Again as I understand it, the agreement reached through CBM is binding on both parents in both jurisdictions once it has been signed ie the jurisdiction the child has been abducted to & the jurisdiction the child has been abducted from. I assume this means less time needs to be spent in court in the country the child is returned to as well since many of the issues should have been resolved between both parents during the CBM process.

CBM is an alternative to the Left Behind Parent (LBP) petitioning a court to have a child returned under the provisions of the Convention, which is the normal means by which an abducted child is returned between two signatory countries, which both The Netherlands & Australia are. If CBM fails, however, the LBP can still petition the court to order a child’s return under the provisions of the Convention. It simply takes longer during which time interim parenting arrangements sometimes need to be put in place by the court in the country the child has been abducted to until final parenting arrangements can be decided in the jurisdiction in which the child was abducted from when the child is returned.

This week I read an article in Grazia magazine written by 19 year-old Johanna Fisher. Johanna wrote her article in response to learning about Andrew being located in Amsterdam last month.

Johanna was abducted from Australia to Switzerland by her mother in 1998 when she was six years old (Andrew’s age now). Her story brings to life the terrible experiences & the trauma abducted children go through. Her thoughts & feelings & emotions, & the psychological issues she’s had to contend with over the past 12 years, are very similar to the those I’ve been told about or have read about by other adults who were abducted across international borders as children by one of their parents ; forced into hiding, & forced into having their identities changed. They are also consistent with the findings of research carried out by eminent child psychologists like Dr Nancy Faulkner PhD who delivered a paper to a United Nations conference in 1999 about the awful experiences abducted children go through & about the short & long-term psychological problems they suffer as a result of their abduction.

Johanna’s story is similar to stories I’ve heard first-hand over the past couple years from children who’ve been abducted & then located & eventually recovered to the countries they were abducted from. I will always remember six-year-old Nadia Taylor telling me at the launch of International Missing Children’s Day in London on 25th May this year that Andrew wants me to find him. Nadia was talking from first-hand experience after being abducted internationally by her father when she was four (Andrew was almost four when he was abducted) & having only been returned to the UK a few months before I met her. Her words were part of the tool-kit of thoughts that kept me focused every day on finding Andrew while riding more than 6500 km on a bicycle though Europe.

Johanna’s article also highlights how much more traumatic these abductions become when abducted children are eventually located only to get caught up in lengthy Hague Convention proceedings; placed in the care of authorities, or placed in foster homes instead of being returned promptly under some type of voluntary agreement.
Johanna’s story in Grazia magazine can be read in PDF format at this link.

Distance: 60 km (Visiting Andrew; shopping, etc).
Weather: Cold (compared to Australia!)

MEDIA INFORMATION FOR IMMEDIATE USE 13 OCTOBER 2010

2010-10-13T19:11:00.003+11:00

ABDUCTING MOTHER FAILS IN COURT BID TO FORCE PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS

MOTHER OPENS NEW LEGAL FRONT IN NETHERLANDS

'EXPERT SHOPPING' a systems abuse by mother.

Following an appearance in response to a subpoena being lodged to obtain medical report documents for use in a new legal bid in the Netherlands by Melinda Stratton, the lawyer for Ken Thompson, Duncan Holmes was successful in his submission today that these documents should not be provided from Australia for use in the Netherlands as this would constitute a system abuse.

"Ken is trying, through 'Cross Border Mediation'(which is a form of intensive mediation designed to be irrevocably agreed to by both parties and recognised by both jurisdiction)to get Melinda to finally agree to send Andrew home straight away. Because of her refusal so far and because Melinda has now initiated new proceedings against Ken in NL, Andrew continues to languish in State care and Melinda remains in jail. He is giving Melinda one more week to agree to Andrew's return and then he will invoke the Hague Convention laws to compel Andrew's return. Meanwhile, Melinda's NL lawyers have just served notice of a Summons, including the new investigation of Ms Stratton's allegations by the Dutch Child Protection Board. These continued investigations can be considered a form of systems abuse of the child." Mr Holmes said today.

The abduction of a child by a parent across international borders is seen by mental health experts around the world as a serious form of child abuse & this is what Andrew Thompson has been subjected to for more than 2 1/2 years.

Ken Thompson said from Amsterdam, "If Melinda Stratton wishes to contest any court findings the appropriate jurisdiction is, & always has been, the Family Court of Australia. No-one has a right to take the law into their own hands, ignore Family Court orders and then travel the world as an international fugitive with an innocent child as a captive while trying to find a jurisdiction that will re-investigate their allegations in the hope of obtaining a different result."

"Any attempt by Andrew's mother to subject Andrew to even more investigation instead of working with me the NL authorities to have him returned to Australia as quickly as possible is simply another form of abuse. This time, an abuse by process."

Further information:

Robin Bowles 0418-102-732

MEDIA INFORMATION FOR IMMEDIATE USE 12 OCTOBER 2010

2010-10-13T00:43:00.003+11:00

KEN THOMPSON/Abduction of ANDREW JOHN THOMPSON

AUSTRALIAN LAWYER TO MAKE SUBMISSIONS ON KEN THOMPSON'S BEHALF 10.30am 13 October

The story of an Australian father's search for his son, which appeared to end happily in Amsterdam last month, has not yet reached any kind of resolution. Andrew Thompson has been found and is being held in a child custody centre in Amsterdam, but he has not been recovered to the jurisdiction of the Australian Family Court. On 2 February 2009 The Australian newspaper quoted from a letter sent to the media by his mother, Ms Melinda Stratton, who was then in hiding overseas.

Ms Stratton said she had no choice other than to flee Australia, because she had lost faith in the Family Court. She says the balance of the court - once firmly in favour of granting custody to mothers - had tipped dramatically towards fathers. The Howard government's regime of "shared parenting" had given power to fathers at the expense of mothers.

"I have lost all faith in any form of justice coming out of Australia," Ms Stratton says.

"By remaining silent, however, I ensure that they (the Family Court) can continue to treat other mothers and children this way."

Ms Stratton said in her 10-page letter that the court psychologist appointed by the Family Court is biased against mothers. She points to papers presented by Family Court practitioners in which they say that mothers can make up allegations of abuse and that children can be manipulated by their mothers to say they have been abused.

Melinda Stratton is now in jail in Amsterdam awaiting extradition on contempt of court and other charges while her Australian lawyers attempt to use the same Family Court she fled from to frustrate Andrew's father and stop Australian media from reporting on the case.

Andrew receives visits and phone calls from his father, but he is still being held in care. In Amsterdam, Ken Thompson is making his way through the complications of Hague Convention Return applications, custody and access issues and trying to arrange sessions of cross-border mediation which may assist his wife from having to face police extradition from the Netherlands to face charges in Australia. Now, half a world away, he has been forced to retain Sydney Lawyer, Duncan Holmes to address legal issues in Australia.

Mr Holmes will be appearing on Ken Thompson's behalf tomorrow morning at 10.30am at the Family Court of Australia, 97-99 Goulburn St, Sydney.

It is noted that the current Family Court Publication Order authorises publication of matters to assist in the location and recovery of Andrew Thompson. It is noted that Andrew has been located. He has not yet been recovered.

This order makes it possible, on that basis, for media to continue to report this internationally significant case.

For further information:

Robin Bowles 0418102732

or Duncan Holmes 0419490610

Day 152 - Amsterdam & International IPCA Attention

2010-10-12T15:42:00.012+11:00

I'm still in Amsterdam. Andrew is still with the child protection authorities in Amsterdam. Melinda is still in custody in Amsterdam pending her extradition to Australia.

The stated intent of The Hague Convention is, "......to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed to or retained in any Contracting State". The various legal processes associated with having Andrew returned to Australia promptly under the provisions of the Convention are now underway.

While these processes are underway Andrew & I are seeing each other as often as possible, although for a number of legal & security reasons this is still taking place in a secure environment.

Andrew loves seeing his 'daddy' & proudly introduces me as his father to the other kids & staff at the place he is staying. He has told me on many occasions that he wants to come home with me. I keep telling him this will happen as soon as possible.

Andrew plays in the garden during our visits. For a little boy who loves nature this is a special treat. I don't think the various bugs; spiders, & snails that live in the garden are so enthusiastic about it though. For them it's just another day of being pushed & prodded; being picked up & dropped into bug-catchers, & being carried unceremoniously from one part of the garden to another on increasingly muddy fingers!

As well as learning about his daddy again, Andrew is also learning about his grandparents on my side of his family, as well as about all the uncles & aunts, cousins, & second cousins he'd lost contact with since his unlawful abduction from Australia in April 2008. He enjoys looking at all the photos of his extended family. He knows they live in Australia & he wants to see them again.

International media interest in Andrew & in the whole issue of International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) is still high. The focus is now shifting from the daily media news stories onto investigative articles; feature articles in high-readership & highly-influential international newspapers & magazines, and television current affairs programs. I also know of at least one documentary-maker who is undertaking an IPCA project & of one international playwright who has started writing a play about the abduction of a child across international borders by a parent.

These are all good initiatives because it means IPCA is set to become a mainstream international social & political issue. This will lead to some healthy debate about current legislation (or the absence of it) in many countries, & about the ways in which the Hague Convention itself might need to be updated (or at least interpreted) to reflect the world as it is today if abducted kids are going to be located quickly & then returned promptly to their country of habitual residence. This was discussed in a previous blog update.

These initiatives will all help raise public awareness around the world to what is now being called 'The Silent Epidemic' of IPCA. These initiatives will also help raise awareness to the many thousands of kids who are abducted across international borders each year by one of their parents & whose plights are rarely heard about. They will also potentially help some of these children to be located & returned promptly under the provisions of the Hague Convention to the countries they have been abducted from so that their fundamental human rights as contained in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child can be restored. These initiatives might also encourage other countries that are not yet signatories to the Hague Convention to become signatories as well.

IPCA is recognised by mental health experts the world over as an extreme form of child abuse. As with many other forms of child abuse, people who commit this type of abuse are often supported & protected by other people who are part of some type of established network, or by people who suddenly come together to support & protect the abuser. In some cases, the two join forces. As with every other form of network that supports & protects child abusers IPCA networks need to be located & taken apart. Each case of an abducted child being located increases the likelihood of this happening.

Our society quite rightly talks much more freely about many other forms of child abuse these days than it did 20 years ago. IPCA is perhaps the last of the 'secret taboos' that we've not wanted to confront because we've always believed that a child is safe if it is with a parent even if that parent has abducted the child. This is because most of us have never seen the research that shows how dangerous abducting parents are & how damaging their actions are to the abducted child (see the following links - Pa rental Child Abduction is Child Abuse and Living i n Limbo ).

The most upsetting & disheartening phrase parents of children who've been abducted hear is, "At least the child is safe because it's with its mother/father". Nothing could be further from the truth & it's time we as an international society acknowledged this & did something about it.

Perhaps that time has come.

Distance: 80 km within Amsterdam visiting Andrew, etc.
Weather: Cold but sunny.

Day 147 - Misinformation Campaign by Extremists Refuted

2010-10-07T15:39:00.006+11:00

6 October 2010

Since Andrew was located in Amsterdam after being abducted & then going missing for more than 2 1/2 years, a large amount of misinformation has been posted on the Internet by extremists who support Melinda's abduction of Andrew, which is a criminal offence in Australia because parenting matters were before the Family Court of Australia at the time. His abduction is also seen by child psychologists the world over as an extreme form of child abuse.

I have no time for these individuals &/or organisations who are distributing information that is untrue or misleading but after seeing what they have been saying in public forums I decided that their claims needed to be publicly refuted.

One post claims Andrew is in an institution in The Netherlands with children who have committed crimes. This is not true.

Another post claims that Melinda's allegations were not investigated by state authorities. This is not true.

The National Council for Children Post-separation issued a media release recently that referred to Andrew as 'Andrew Stratton'. This is not correct. As Andrew himself has been telling people who have allegedly been attempting to change his name for more than 2 1/2 years, his name is Andrew Thompson. This is the legal name on his birth certificate, not Andrew Stratton, Timothy Welsh, or any other name people might choose to force onto him in their on-going attempts to deny him his legal rights (including his legal right to his name) as provided for in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Another post claims I'm trying to gag the media. This is not true. After spending considerable time being interviewed by Australian & international media in the days & weeks that followed Andrew being located, I issued a media release asking that the media give me some breathing space to enable me to focus on rebuilding my relationship with Andrew; to work with lawyers; to work with the authorities in The Netherlands & in Australia, and to work with staff from the Australian Embassy, etc. This media release was distributed to the Australian & international media & posted on this blog (see below). Despite making this request, I have honoured all my pre-existing media commitments & I've even taken on some new ones since then. I've also spoken to every journalist who has contacted me since that media release was issued.

Melinda's lawyers on the other hand have attempted to stop me talking to the media. I've also been told they have written to media outlets in Australia threatening legal action against them if they continue to publish information although a court-ordered Publication Order is still in place.

Yet another post stated Melinda has a high level of support in Europe for her actions. I'm not aware of this but what I do know is that I've received thousands of emails from people all over Europe expressing their joy at Andrew being located & reunited with me. I was interviewed by ZDF TV in Germany last week (Germany's national broadcaster) & their telephones were jammed afterwards by people calling them to say how glad they were that he'd been found. In the days that followed that broadcast I also received hundreds of emails from ZDF viewers in Germany; Switzerland; Austria & The Netherlands expressing the same sentiment. Similar responses followed interviews with media outlets in Croatia; UK; The Netherlands; Greece, & Spain to name just a few of the European countries that have reported on Andrew being located.

Another post suggested that Fathers Rights groups in Australia are gearing up for a lynch-mob when Melinda returns to Australia. I haven't seen or heard anything from any so-called 'Fathers Rights' groups that suggest this type of sentiment at all.

One post I do agree with said Melinda's allegations should be heard by the Family Court of Australia so she can tell her side of the story. This is what I've been trying to achieve for almost three years.

Another said I should keep the matter out of the courts & work with Melinda to find a solution that is truly in Andrew's best interests. It is obvious that this person has not been following the thousands of posts I've made on websites & blogs the world over for more than 2 ½ years. It is also contradictory to the post referred to in the previous paragraph about having Melinda's allegations heard in the Family Court.

I don't know why these people make up these statements & claims. All I can assume is that they are engaged in some kind of ideological gender war in which kids like Andrew (& their parents, other family members & family friends) become collateral damage. People who truly claim to act in the best interests of children would surely act on sound evidence & not on unfounded allegations; hearsay, & personal opinions. However, if they are waging some kind of gender war & using the abduction & disappearance (& eventual finding) of a child as one of their battle-grounds, then it bears out the saying that "Truth is usually the first casualty in war".

Andrew has been found & this is the most important thing. He is now safe & in a secure location after being forced into an extreme emotional & physical situation for more than 2 1/2 years while his international human rights were being systematically violated. He is working through issues that a child of his age should never have to work through & he is doing this extremely well in a very supportive environment with professional child psychologists & social workers. This is a very different environment to the one in which he found himself for more than 2 1/2 years after being abducted from his home; his country; his family; his friends, & the legal protections afforded to most other children.

People who post these types of comments make themselves look stupid & ill-informed. There was a time when I tried communicating with some of these people & the organisations they represent to enlist their help to try & find way forward that was truly in Andrew's best interests & to protect him from an abusive environment (something they claim to stand for), but other than one notable exception their only response was to reject my efforts; block me from their websites/blogs (I now block them from this blog by the way because of the appalling ways in which they have attempted to express their views about Andrew being located), & to launch public attacks against me on other websites & blogs.

I will have nothing more to do with them because they are simply incapable of reason or of believing anything other than what they want to believe despite any evidence to the contrary. However, if I learn about false & misleading statements they make in a public forum I will use mediums such as this blog & others to correct them. My primary focus now though is on having Andrew recovered & returned to his country of habitual residence in the safest & fastest way possible. That country is Australia & the legal process for having him returned to that country is now underway.

Distance: 126 km cycling in & around Amsterdam to see Andrew; various meetings, & other commitments.

Day 142 - Melinda

2010-10-03T11:55:00.004+11:00

A lot of people have asked me over the past few weeks about my position in relation to Melinda. Their curiosity is no doubt coming from comments that have been reported in the media & on the various blogs, websites, etc that have been carrying information about Andrew’s abduction & the efforts that were made to find him.

While much of what has been reported in the media & on the various blogs, websites, etc is accurate, people need to realise that comments are often paraphrased; taken out of context, & edited to fit into time & space limits.

I have always said that Andrew should have the best possible relationship with both his parents. Unfortunately, Melinda has denied Andrew this for more than 2 ½ years by abducting him from Australia; keeping him in hiding, & attempting to change his identity.

Despite everything she has (allegedly) done during that time, I have agreed to Andrew seeing his mother while she is being held in custody in The Netherlands. However, I am also using this time to work with psychologists & other child protection experts to rebuild my relationship with Andrew as well.

This is my number one priority.

Unless I am advised I should do otherwise, I will continue to support Andrew seeing his mother. However, at the moment the only way this can be done is under supervision in a secure environment & this is the only arrangement I will agree to at this time. Unfortunately, this is the best possible relationship Andrew can have with his mother under the current circumstances while he is rebuilding his relationship with me.

I have also said I did not want Melinda to go to prison. That’s true. I did not want this to happen but it has. I did everything I could over the past 2 ½ years to communicate to her (& to her family & supporters) that the best thing Melinda could do is contact me directly or through someone she trusted so we could find a way for her to return to Australia with Andrew in a way that was the least threatening to her & the least traumatic to Andrew. These communications were all ignored.

I also said I would only be able to help her do this before she & Andrew were located by the authorities. Sadly, that has now happened & the consequences for Melinda are severe. It is also much more traumatic for Andrew than it needed to be had Melinda responded to my calls over more than 2 ½ years to work together to find a way forward.

I also said I did not want Andrew to be separated from his mother. This is true as well because I was trying to appeal to Melinda to contact me before Andrew & her were located by the authorities because I knew they would be separated as soon as Andrew was located. Again, this is exactly what has happened.

One of the reasons I carried a tracking device during my bicycle ride through England & Europe & made sure my journey could be monitored on the blog was to enable Melinda to see exactly where I was at every point in the journey. I did this because I wanted to give her every opportunity to contact me while we were both on ‘neutral territory’ so we could find a way to work together to enable her & Andrew to return to Australia before being found by the authorities. This was also communicated through blogs; websites; mainstream media, etc.

According to recent media reports, Melinda was closely monitoring my movements through the Internet before & after my arrival in Europe. If these reports are correct, she knew I was in Amsterdam in June & that I was here for several days after cycling through England; France; Belgium; Luxembourg, & Germany before leaving for Den Haag & Rotterdam, & then cycling across the length & breadth of The Netherlands before continuing on to Germany; Poland, and the Czech Republic & then returning to Germany again before heading further south towards Austria; Switzerland; Spain, etc.

In effect, Melinda had more than 120 opportunities to contact me herself or through someone else to find a way forwards without involving the authorities while I was in England & Europe. She didn‘t.

I’ve also said that Melinda is a good person with a bad problem. Based on all the evidence that was obtained before & after Andrew’s abduction, this still seems to be the case but I am looking forward to having that evidence subjected to cross-examination in the Family Court of Australia, which is what should have happened if Melinda doubted the findings of the court-ordered investigation into her allegations instead of abducting Andrew & forcing him into hiding for 2 ½ years.

I also stated publicly on many occasions that I would help Melinda come to terms with the problem that was identified before she abducted Andrew. I also said she needed to firstly accept she has made a mistake & to then work with a professional who can help her understand why she made that mistake to reduce the likelihood of something similar happening again. Sadly, those offers were ignored as well.

When I arrived in Amsterdam the first thing I did was contact the Australian Embassy in Den Haag to ask them to let Melinda know I was here & to let her know I would provide her with whatever support I could while she was being held in custody. She didn’t respond.

The next day I asked the Amsterdam Police to communicate the same offer to Melinda. She didn’t respond to this offer either.

Melinda is now facing the full consequences of her actions. I am still prepared to help her because this is what is truly in Andrew’s best interests.

I will not do to Andrew what Melinda did to him. Unless I am advised otherwise, or unless a properly constituted court in the appropriate jurisdiction (the Family Court of Australia) orders otherwise, I will do everything I can to make sure he has the best relationship possible with both of his parents under what are now highly unusual & very extreme circumstances. This is Andrew’s international legal right under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition to searching the world for him for more than 2 ½ years, I have been fighting for his rights to be restored as well & I won’t change my position unless I’m forced into doing this by someone who has the legal authority to do it.

Unfortunately, I’ve been forced into every step I’ve taken for more than 2 ½ years but I’m hoping I won’t be forced into taking that step as well.

Distance: 120 km cycling in Amsterdam to various meetings with authorities; sessions with Andrew; shopping; house-hunting, etc.

Day 138 to 141 - Amsterdam to Hamburg to Amsterdam

2010-10-02T08:21:00.010+10:00

27 to 30 September 2010

Now that the media frenzy about Andrew being found in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) has settled down, I am concentrating all of my efforts onto having him returned to Australia as quickly as possible under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Convention).

An important step in the Convention process is what is called Cross-border Mediation (CBM). This is a voluntary mediation process that enables both parents to come together to work with trained mediators to find a way forward that will see children returned to the country they
were abducted from in the shortest possible time.

If the abducting parent declines to take part or if the CBM process is not successful, the full Convention process is initiated through the courts in the country the child was abducted to. The intent of the Convention is to have children who have been abducted cross international borders to be returned to what is referred to in the Convention as the child's 'country of habitual residence'. This is the country they were abducted from.

There are only three provisions within the Convention that could see a child ordered by a court to remain in the country the child was abducted to:

1) The left-behind-parent agreed to the child being taken from the country it was removed from & to live in the country it was taken to.

2) The child has become settled in the country it was taken to.

3) The child would be at 'intolerable risk' if it was returned to its country of habitual residence.

In the primary source of interpretation for the Convention, the Explanatory Report, Professor E. Perez-Vera noted the following:

"It would seem necessary to underline the fact that the three types of exception to the rule concerning the return of the child must be applied only so far as they go and no further. This implies above all that they are to be interpreted in a restrictive fashion if the Convention is not to become a dead letter. In fact, the Convention as a whole rests upon the unanimous rejection of this phenomenon of illegal child removals and upon the conviction that the best way to combat them at an international level is to refuse to grant them legal recognition.

The practical application of this principle requires that the signatory States be convinced that they belong, despite their differences, to the same legal community within which the authorities of each State acknowledge that the authorities of one of them - those of the child's habitual residence - are in principle best placed to decide upon questions of custody and access. As a result, a systematic invocation of the said exceptions, substituting the forum chosen by the abductor for that of the child's residence, would lead to the collapse of the whole structure of the Convention by depriving it of the spirit of mutual confidence which is its inspiration."

Andrew's abduction has become a topic of great media & public interest the world over. In addition to the incredible amount of media & public interest in Australia, his case is now being followed in many other countries including The Netherlands; Belgium; Russia; USA; UK; Canada; New Zealand; Spain; Greece; Italy; Germany; Sweden, and Japan.

Although I'm trying to reduce the amount of media exposure to enable things to quieten down while the Convention process gets underway & to make sure I keep focused on that, I am honouring prior commitments. One of these commitments was to ZDF TV in Germany, which is Germany's national broadcaster, much like the ABC in Australia & the BBC in the
UK.

I agreed to be interviewed by them two nights ago in Hamburg (Germany) for the Markus Lanz program. This was because of the large amount of time I spent cycling in Germany as part of the 'On the Road' campaign & because of the amount of support I received from the German media & from the German people while I was there.

The following link will take you to the interview (click here). Ever since it was aired I've been receiving hundreds of emails from people who saw the interview in Germany; Austria; Swtizerland, and The Netherlands & who have been touched by Andrew's plight. They are all hoping he will be returned to Australia in the shortest possible time.

Day 119 to 137 Amsterdam - On the Road - to Justice

2010-09-27T10:52:00.006+10:00

Well, the past three weeks have been extraordinary. It all commenced with an anonymous email on 6th September 2010 when I stopped at a small town called Weiler zum Stein, which is about 35km east of Stuttgart (Germany). I was cycling from Nurnberg to Stuttgart to meet with another parent whose children were also abducted about 10 years ago. From Stuttgart I’d planned to cycle south to Austria & Switzerland before cycling further south to take advantage of the warmer climate to keep cycling as the weather cooled in the northern part of Europe.

Austria & Switzerland were on my list of possibilities for where Andrew might be as were several other countries. This list was based on criteria that had been developed during the planning stages of the ‘On the Road’ bicycle component of the ‘Global Search for Andrew Campaign’. Instead, I suddenly found myself on a train heading 500 km north to Amsterdam in The Netherlands!

It’s ironic that Amsterdam was a city I’d cycled through a couple of months previously – partly because it matched the criteria used to plan the journey, & partly because of its proximity to Den Haag, which is the headquarters of the United Nations Permanent Bureau of The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention) to whom I had delivered a letter on behalf of the parents of IPCA victims around the world.

There was something about Amsterdam that caught my attention during my first visit. I decided when I left that if no information had come to light about Andrew by the time I’d got to the southern parts of Europe I would return to make more detailed enquiries & to seek more media attention in The Netherlands generally.

Andrew is now safe & secure. He is very pleased to be seeing me again & the psychologists are quite happy with how quickly he is re-establishing the bond with me that had been weakened (but not broken) for such a long time.

Despite all the efforts by what now appears to be many people to transform Andrew into someone he isn’t, he resisted them all. When he was told his name was Timothy he said “No! My name is Andrew”. When he was told by these people his family name was Welsh he rejected their efforts by saying “No! My name is Thompson”. This is an amazing feat of resistance from a young child whose entire identity & former life were being systematically erased by adults who were in positions of extreme power & influence over him.

International media attention is now focusing on how a woman with no criminal record; no previous criminal activity, & no previous connections to underworld figures or extremist groups could remain in hiding with such a young child for such a long time. I’ve also formally & publicly called on law enforcement agencies to carry out investigations into recent claims in The Australian newspaper that people & organisations in Australia & several other countries were actively involved in keeping Andrew hidden & were knowingly subjecting him to on-going emotional & psychological abuse.

If these claims are found to be true, I expect these people (who are nothing more than child abusers themselves if the claims are in fact true) & the organisations they are involved with to be held to account & brought to justice for the roles they’ve played in systematically abusing a very young child & for their gross violations of his international human rights. I’m aware of at least one person who is now trying to get as far away from this situation as possible but I suspect it’s already too late for that. I hope it’s too late for all the others as well.

Although I can’t help feeling a need for some retribution against these people & organisations for the harm they’ve caused to Andrew & to the many other people who know & love him, my primary focus now is on Andrew. It’s the job of law enforcement professionals & the criminal justice system to focus on the criminal aspects of his abduction & disappearance.

Andrew & I have seen each other twice since he was located by Amsterdam Police & a third visit is scheduled for this week. Both visits were very positive. Andrew was pleased to see me. Like all kids, he wants his dad in his life. Andrew is now being counselled about his ordeal by professional child psychologists & is being taken through a carefully-planned & well-managed process of reunification with me.

The frequency & length of our visits will increase as the psychologists see fit given the extraordinary circumstances Andrew had been placed in for such a long time. Andrew now needs time & support to readjust to a ‘normal’ environment – or at least as normal as it can be given the situation he’d been forced into over the past 2 ½ years.

Andrew also visited his mother last week. I am pleased that the psychologists are making sure Andrew maintains the best possible relationship with her under the current circumstances – albeit under strict supervision in a secure environment.

Four separate legal processes are now underway & each of them is running concurrently:

1) The Australian Government has made a formal application to The Netherlands Government for Andrew’s mother to be extradited to Australia. I know very little about where this process is up to or about what her options are.

2) Various Court Orders issued by the Family Court of Australia need to be given legal effect in The Netherlands. I understand this process has commenced but it could take several weeks to be completed.

3) Cross-border Mediation (CBM). This is designed to find a way for Andrew’s mother & me to reach agreement on certain issues. I understand this process can begin quite quickly if both parties agree. If an agreement can be reached between us it is possible that Andrew could be returned to Australia within a few weeks.

4) If CBM is unsuccessful, court action will commence within The Netherlands to have Andrew returned to Australia under the provisions of The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This could take several weeks or more.

Each of these processes moves at a different pace so it is difficult to know when Andrew will be returned to Australia. However, I have told the authorities I will remain in The Netherlands until this happens.

Ever since learning on 7th May 2008 that Andrew had been unlawfully abducted from Australia on 24th April 2008 in contravention of the Family Law Act, I have been working towards having him found & returned to Australia in the least traumatic way possible. It is very unfortunate for everyone that it has come to the point where it is now. Andrew did not deserve this & it need not have ended in this way.

During that time I have also been working towards having the legal action that I initiated in Australia resumed as quickly as possible so that Andrew’s long-term parenting arrangements can be decided on & so that the allegations that have been made against me can be fully investigated & adjudicated on by a properly-constituted court in the country in which the allegations were made. That country is Australia.

A hastily-convened Kangaroo Court that places itself above the laws of the land; ignores & violates international human rights; carries out its ‘hearings, trials, & sentencing’ behind closed doors in whatever countries it likes; takes whatever ‘evidence’ it decides to use to the exclusion of everything else; denies any opportunity for scrutiny or cross-examination of that ‘evidence’ by other affected parties, & publicly rejects the legitimacy of a well-established legal system & a properly constituted court is not the correct forum to decide on Andrew’s long-term welfare or on the veracity of serious allegations made against his father.

It has been a long & hard road but I am now several steps closer to having these & many other issues resolved for Andrew & myself than I was 2 ½ years ago. Andrew deserves nothing less.

Ken & Andrew THOMPSON
Amsterdam. The Netherlands

Amsterdam cycling: 300 km

Day 134 Amsterdam - Media Information for Immediate Release 23 September 2010

2010-09-24T08:56:00.003+10:00

EXHAUSTED FATHER SEEKS SOME PRIVATE SPACE TO REUNITE WITH HIS SON

Ken Thompson, the man whose fairy-tale end to his long and difficult quest to find his son, Andrew said today in Amsterdam, 'I have been overwhelmed with the help and support given to me from around the world during the incredible two weeks since I found the son I feared I'd lost forever. During the past week, I've had two emotional meetings with Andrew.

'He needs time to process those meetings and I hope to see him more frequently as the days go by. He's only a little boy and a lot has happened in his life in the past two-and-a-half years.'

Mr Thompson said that he'd been told by the people looking after Andrew that he's been telling the kids where he's staying that he's seen his dad and that his dad is going to visit him & the other kids as well. He said that Andrew now sleeps with photos downloaded from the www.findandrew.com site beside his bed.

'Andrew visited his mother at the weekend. This was the first time he had seen her since she was taken into custody and he was taken into care.' Ken said that the meeting was without incident.

In excess of 3000 emails and other messages of goodwill and support have been sent to Mr Thompson. He has given interviews and TV footage to about 50 media representatives during the past fortnight, resulting in stories in a dozen countries.

'I particularly want to thank the thousands of people who've sent email messages to me (& Andrew) and those who've left messages on the blog, Andrew's website, and Andrew's Facebook. One day, Andrew will see them all.'

'I have tried to fully co-operate with the Australian & international media to try to repay them for the role they played in finding Andrew. Without their support I would not have been able to place as much information on www.findandrew.com. Their articles also made sure that anyone who entered Andrew's name into any Internet search engine would come across something about him. This is what happened when a person in Amsterdam became suspicious & did exactly that,' he said today.

He was issuing this information now in the hope that his privacy and his attention to focus on Andrew will be respected during the next week or so. 'My only priority now is my son's welfare,' he said today. 'If the media could give me some breathing space to get myself and Andrew reunited, I would be very grateful.'

ENDS

Info: Robin Bowles 0418-102-732 or +61 418-102-732 (international)

Some Recent Media

2010-09-23T13:41:00.003+10:00

Woman's Day 23 September 2010 "Our Magic Moment" click here

WHO Magazine 22 September 2010 "I rode 6,500km to find my son" click here

Radio Adelaide interview (audio) 21 September 2010 click here

The Australian 21 September 2010 "Andrew's dad wants police to act against charities who helped wife" click here

The Australian 20 September 2010 "Andrew Thompson's artworks gave him away" click here

Woman's Day interview 20 September 2010 (video) click here

MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE MONDAY 20 September 2010

2010-09-20T11:27:00.001+10:00

FATHER CALLS ON AUTHORITIES TO INVESTIGATE ABDUCTION OF HIS SON

Ken Thompson, the father who has made world-wide headlines for the successful outcome of his two-and-a-half year campaign to find his son Andrew in Amsterdam, is dismayed by the level of support his wife Melinda Stratton received to help her evade him and the lack of investigation done by Australian Federal Police to obtain any information about where she has hidden and how she has supported his son.

Instead, the details of her flight and support have been investigated by journalist Peter Wilson from The Australian Newspaper. An exclusive story in today's Australian reveals a life on the run and in hiding for Ms Stratton and her little boy. A far cry from his own toy-filled room in a comfortable home in Sydney's Hunters Hill, the child has been sharing a bedroom with his mother in a charity apartment along with two African women. When they arrived in Amsterdam six months ago Melinda and Andrew, known as Mandy and Timothy Welsh, first stayed in a refuge run by The Sisters of Charity, the order of nuns founded by Mother Teresa, and then in the apartment provided by a black evangelical organisation run by a pastor who says he is also a child psychologist.

In his first year of primary education Andrew has already attended two schools and had to learn to speak Dutch. It is likely he will be moved to yet another school when he leaves the child-care facility where he now lives while being gradually reintroduced to his father. During the past two-and-a-half years Andrew has been hidden in Germany to Austria and then to The Netherlands during his mother's efforts to evade discovery. He has a new name and he and his mother now have short, dark brown hair.

Now Andrew's father is demanding answers from the Australian authorities.

'I always knew Melinda must have had a lot of help,' he said by phone to Australia this morning. 'I thought she must be getting assistance from some of the various women's rights groups that have voiced support for her on Andrew's website. But in fact it has been Catholic nuns, a South African run evangelical group and others in Australia, who have close connections to Melinda. It's now time for the police to properly investigate the way she left the country and the ongoing support she has been getting to hide my son from me and the due processes of the Australian Family Court. She has never been in contact before with these sorts of people in Europe or Australia. She's a highly qualified marketing graduate with an MBA and now I discover she and my little son have been living on charity in cramped conditions, with Melinda being too scared to go far from the confines of the apartment, in case she's asked for identification.'

It is a requirement in Europe that official identification is carried at all times. Using a false name and unable to renew her passport that had been cancelled after AFP and Interpol arrest warrants were issued following her flight, Ms Stratton did voluntary work at the charity to earn her keep. She and other friends also tracked her husband's progress on the internet during his cycling search for Andrew.

'She would have been unaware,' Ken Thompson said,' that one of my support team members was professionally tracking every hit on the cycling blog . It will be interesting to see if the multiple increased hits from specific locations in Europe tally with locations where Melinda has been hiding. I would like the police to check this and the contents of her room at the apartment, which has remained locked since Melinda was arrested by Dutch police when she went to collect Andrew from school on the afternoon of 8 September. My son was already in safe custody by then and she had no opportunity to return to dispose of any correspondence or other information. I understand she was also receiving advice from a London based lawyer. How did she afford that? She had researched that The Netherlands could be a place that might treat her leniently and allow her to remain in Amsterdam, in spite of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child abduction having originated in The Hague.'

During his cycling search Ken Thompson cycled through Amsterdam on his way to deliver a letter to the Hague signed by many parents seeking stricter penalties for parental child abduction. He could have cycled past his son's school.

As for the pastor who has been helping Melinda Stratton in Amsterdam, he says that he saw a woman in trouble and he sheltered and cared for her. She told him she was a fugitive and liable to be arrested and she told him to get her son Andrew home to his uncle in Australia, Melinda's brother, John Stratton, a Sydney finance advisor. Andrew's father, Ken Thompson, was not an option, even thought Andrew's mother knew Ken was searching Europe for him.

Ken Thompson has been told that the charitable organisation sheltering Melinda in Amsterdam knew that she was wanted by the authorities and that they also gave assistance to illegal immigrants and other law breakers. He is very concerned about the effect this life on the run has had on Andrew.

Mr Thompson says the locked bedroom presents a perfect opportunity for Australian police to identify who was helping his wife as a fugitive and how.

'It is their responsibility to examine her methods of evading discovery and use that knowledge to prevent this situation happening to others,' he said.'And ensure that those who have deliberately assisted her to break the law receive appropriate penalties,' Ken Thompson said.

ENDS

For further information: Robin Bowles
0418102732 (Australia) +61 418102732 (Europe)

Thank You and Update from Ken

2010-09-18T08:11:00.008+10:00

I first got news about Andrew being found on Sunday night (Fathers Day in Australia) while I was cycling between Nurnberg & Stuttgart (Germany) having clocked up almost 6,500 km (4,000 miles) on the bicycle.

Although the Australian authorities & I were concerned about the authenticity of the news, it was becoming more certain by the time I arrived in Stuttgart (where I was planning to turn left & head for Switzerland) so I immediately changed direction & took the fast train to Amsterdam. I sat at the back of the train where the front carriage is duplicated & watched as the speedometer reach more than 220 km/h but it still wasn’t fast enough. I wanted to get there asap because there was still a lot of uncertainty about whether or not the source was credible.

When I arrived at Amsterdam staff from the Australian Embassy confirmed Andrew had been found.

The next day I met with the Amsterdam Police. By then the international media had already found out & were descending on the city. This meant I had to manage their expectations while still coming to terms with everything myself & navigating through the Dutch bureaucracy.

I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of emotion from people all over the world about Andrew being found. The media interest is still high in Australia & in several other countries.

It seems as though the whole world needed some good news in place of all the bad news stories we hear every day.

Next week I am returning to Germany for a day or so to say ‘thank you’ through the German media to all the people who took an interest in Andrew’s plight while I cycled through their country. I think I re-entered Germany about six times during the ride.

I've been as available to the media as I can be but I now need to focus on working through the reunification process with Andrew & on the legal process associated with bringing him home to Australia. This could take several months.

I was able to spend about 40 minutes with Andrew last Wednesday & he now needs some time to process that event. I will be seeing him again next week & hopefully more frequently after that.

Andrew is now very excited about seeing me. He’s been telling the kids where he’s staying that he’s seen his dad & that his dad is going to visit him & the other kids as well.

The people from the Dutch child protection agencies have downloaded photos of me (& his mum) from the www.findandrew.com website & he has these beside his bed.

I will keep updating the blog throughout this process but I wanted to say a very quick 'thank you' to the thousands of people who've been following the ‘Global Search for Andrew’ & the ‘On the Road’ part of that campaign.

I also want to thank the thousands of people who’ve sent email messages to me (& Andrew) over the past week or so, & to all the people who've left messages on this blog, Andrew's website, Andrew’s Facebook Cause, etc .

Andrew will see them all.

I also want to thank the Australian & international media for the role they played in finding Andrew. Without their support I would not have been able to place as much information on www.findandrew.com. Their articles also made sure that anyone who entered Andrew’s name into any Internet search engine would come across something about him. This is what happened when a person in Amsterdam became suspicious & did exactly that.

Many people worked tirelessly behind the scenes to support me throughout this campaign. There are too many to name here but I do want to acknowledge Carolyn; Stephanie; Robin; Jac; Dan (who got me cycling again in Australia); and my mother, Edwina.

Andrew & I are being reunited carefully & slowly. I will remain in Amsterdam until the Dutch legal process & the Hague Convention run their course. This means Andrew’s reunification process will not be rushed. With the help of the Dutch child protection agencies, it will be done at his pace.

Melinda is being held in custody. As soon as I arrived in Amsterdam I made offers through the Amsterdam Police & the Australian Embassy to see her & to provide her with whatever support I could but she did not respond.

One of the many ironies in this whole ordeal is that it now looks like I cycled past the playground Andrew used to play in when I cycled through Amsterdam in June 2010.

The important thing is that Andrew is safe & well. He is being cared for by child protection professionals in Amsterdam & he is coming to terms with the fact that his father has come back into his life.

Day 119: Stuttgart (Germany) to Amsterdam (The Netherlands) 500 km by train/s

Ken has been reunited with Andrew

2010-09-14T07:27:00.011+10:00

The following articles outline their first meeting

AAP click here

The Australian click here

Daily Telegraph click here

ABC News click here

ABC News - Daniel Morcombe Foundation who supported/help funded Ken's search

Ken on the Today show 10 September 2010

2010-09-13T07:59:00.007+10:00

To see Ken on the Today show 10 September 2010 click here

This interview shows what a good man/father/dad Ken is.

To see other media, clink on the News/Media links.

Response to SMH Article

2010-09-10T20:54:00.005+10:00

The following was sent to the Sydney Morning Herald today by Robin Bowles, Ken Thompson’s Media Contact.

I have just phoned to complain about the story by Joel Gibson in the SMH today headlined Found, but will he be a little boy lost in the court system?

This story shows the reporter made no attempt to check the sweeping comments made by Ms Freda Briggs in regard to the mother's attitude and the jurisdiction of the Family Court. No attempt appears to have been made by Gibson to check with Dutch or Australian consular authorities here or in Holland about whether Ms Briggs's suppositions/predictions are correct. In fact I can tell you from discussions I have had with Melinda Thompson's sister in law and her mother during which I was told that Melinda was very aware of the Hague Convention and its ramifications and had done quite a bit of research to ascertain which countries she might flee to that were NOT signatories to the Hague Convention, where she might be safe from having Andrew returned to his home and family. In addition I am aware of a phone call, made by Melinda Thompson to Ms Briggs, after her flight from Australia, which Ms Briggs received while in the company of another person, seeking advice about what steps Melinda might take to avoid being repatriated under the Hague Convention. I have been told that Ms Briggs has told Mr Thompson and Caroline Overington of The Australian Newspaper that there was a possibility that Japan might be a safe haven.

If Gibson had picked up a phone and contacted the Dutch authorities, the Attorney General's Department in Canberra, Ken Thompson, myself (as Ken's contact for the media), checked the findandrew website or done any proper journalistic research at all he would have found that Ms Briggs knew NOTHING about what is happening in Amsterdam.

It is articles like this, written as you told me, 'in a hurry' that give journalists the bad name some of them absolutely deserve. The whole article is crap. The carers DO speak Andrew's language, (which language anyway? he's been living overseas for two and a half years at pre-school , his grandmother told me, and school) Every second person (including police) speaks English in Holland.

And ''For a child to be subjected to such trauma can be devastating. The previous children have suffered from mental illness that the psychiatrists thought could be lifelong,'' Briggs says.

Who brought this 'trauma' on Andrew? His mother, by taking him from all he knew and loved. By enrolling him in a school under a false name. By lying to him about his father. By trying to enlist the help of people like Ms Briggs, who gives her opinion 'Unfortunately the system in my experience' without ANY knowledge of this particular situation except for the phone call and letter she received from Melinda, after Melinda abducted Ken's son. (The letter, by the way, ended up in the hands of the media and was extensively reported).

Finally I would like Mr Gibson to contact me for the real story, if he'd like to report facts instead of suppositions and speculations. My number is 0394156396 or 0418102732. If he's going to be a proper reporter when he grows up he should learn how to properly research a story that has such impact on the people he is writing about instead of writing it 'in a hurry'. Deadlines are not more important than the truth.

Robin Bowles

Media Information for Immediate Use

2010-09-10T20:25:00.004+10:00

Abducted child, Andrew John Thompson safe in Dutch child care facility.

Father Ken Thompson meets yesterday with authorities.

Reunion between father and son still some days away.

The past 48 hours have been the toughest of Ken Thompson's life. Worse than the endless hoping and searching over the past two and a half years is the knowledge that his son, whilst safe, could be in the next Amsterdam suburb, or even the next block, away from where he is staying with friends after his long search for Andrew.

'One part of my mind still does not believe he's been found,' Ken said today. . 'I know he has, but until I see him I can't quite process it. So much of my life since April 2008 has been focussed on finding Andrew that now, even with the huge amount of support and public interest in his recovery, I feel a bit surreal.'

Ken met yesterday with Dutch police and other authorities to discuss how and when he might be reunited with Andrew. He said today that he is extremely reassured by the care and attention Andrew is receiving from carers and psychologists assigned to ensure that the eventual reunion is positive and the first step on the way to re-establishing the former close relationship between father and son.

'We need to be reunited carefully,' Ken said. 'I don't know quite how he will react. He may be quite frightened of me, depending on what he has been told about why he was suddenly taken from home to a vastly different life.'

Psychologist Freda Briggs was quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia today without any inquiries being cited by the reporter as to the accuracy of Ms Briggs's assumptions/predictions about the way Andrew will be repatriated under the Hague Convention agreement. Uninformed comments are very unhelpful in such a delicate situation. Ken Thompson has been advised that he will be 'reunited carefully and with great consideration given to Andrew's sensitivities' in relation to what his mother may have told Andrew about their flight from Australia. Ken recognises that Andrew may be quite frightened of him at first. But he is confident that he will eventually have an important role to play as Andrew's dad'.

Ken's research while searching for Andrew has shown that during the first four years of a child's life the child forms lasting memories and impressions. He is confident Andrew will remember his Dad. 'I now have to make formal application to the Dutch authorities and the Hague officials to have Andrew returned to Australia. I am confident that when Andrew is older he will know how much I love him and will understand what I have been through to find him. My sincere thanks go to the member of the public who has made this reunion with my son a reality. I have dreamed of this day since the day I stood in the Family Court of Australia and was told by the judge that Melinda was not present because she and Andrew had left Australia 4 days earlier.'

In spite of the heartache caused by Melinda, Ken does not condemn his wife.

''I will do whatever I can to help her,' he said. 'I never wanted it to come to this, but now it has, I will support her wherever I can.'

Further info: Robin Bowles robinbowles@bigpond.com

03 94156396 or 0418102732

International

613 94156396 or 61418102732

International Press Release

2010-09-09T15:36:00.004+10:00

Runaway mother Melinda Margaret Thompson (nee Stratton) arrested in Amsterdam on Interpol Arrest Warrant.

Abducted child Andrew Thompson (now aged 6) in safe custody at an Amsterdam Government childcare home.

Extradition proceedings to Australia commenced.

Andrew Thompson was covertly taken from Australia on 24th April 2008 by his mother Melinda Margaret THOMPSON (nee Melinda Margaret STRATTON) whilst a child custody hearing was underway before the Family Court of Australia. An Australian warrant was issued for her arrest and circulated by Interpol in 187 countries worldwide.

Background - The mother and son flew from Sydney to Frankfurt on a Singapore Airlines flight on 24th April 2008 and were not seen or heard from since then. Both are Australian Citizens travelling on Australian passports. German police stated they had no knowledge of them leaving the country after their arrival under their given names.

Despite assistance from expert private detectives and follow-up leads by AFP overseas liaison officers no trace could be found in Europe of the missing duo under their legal names. It was therefore believed that they might have somehow obtained false identities and were still resident in Europe since the mother spoke European languages.

The father of the abducted child Ken Thompson, under tremendous mental and physical stress, resigned from his job as Deputy Commissioner of the NSW Fire Brigade to devote additional time and effort to locating his abducted child.

Ken decided that he had done all he could from Australia to find Andrew and having setup a website www.findandrew.com and a Facebook page in April 2009, he made the decision in May 2010 to get on his bike to Europe - literally.

An additional website was set up http://findandrewthompsoneurope2010.blogspot.com/ to document Ken's journey and he set off on a multi country cycle crusade to publicise not only his missing child (whose face was emblazoned on the back of his cycle shirt) but also the plight of other single parents whose children had been abducted to other countries by their partners and who are still missing.

Ken cycled more than 6,000 kilometres in 3 months across 9 countries in UK and Europe wearing a picture of Andrew on his cycle shirt and handing out bumper stickers of Andrew's picture to people he met in order to raise awareness of parental abductions and the lack of adequate legislation and preventative enforcement worldwide.

The website and Facebook page received many expressions of help and support from well-wishers and also numerous possible sightings' information. Many of the sightings from Singapore, Vietnam, Spain, Germany and elsewhere were expertly and patiently followed up, along with other investigative means by professional volunteers.

On 5 September 2010, ironically Father's Day in Australia, another lead from the public emanated from Amsterdam Holland with the result that Melinda Thompson was arrested by the Amsterdam police the following day, 865 days after removing Andrew from the jurisdiction of the Family Court and overseas to avoid complying with Court orders. Andrew Thompson was placed under protection in a childcare institution awaiting the arrival of his father from Stuttgart. Extradition proceedings may be commenced to return the mother to Australia.

Ken was notified by the informant of the arrest. She had seen the www.findandrew.com website, and media coverage Ken obtained in Holland whilst taking a letter signed by many 'left-behind' parents to the Hague, where the Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction (see http://hcch.e-vision.nl/index_en.php?act=conventions.text&cid=24 )The informant recognised the mother whom at a school being attended by Andrew in Amsterdam and notified the Dutch police.

Ken is now in Amsterdam to meet with the Dutch police, AFP and Australian consulate representatives and Hague officials. It is hoped he will get to see his little boy later today, and he hopes Andrew will recognize him after the two and a half year search. Ken has carried a stuffed toy of a fireman, left behind by Melinda, tied to his handlebars throughout his search. He hoped that if Andrew did not recognize him, Bernie Cinders would do the trick. Today he might find out.

This happy ending for Ken and Andrew shows that the world is actually quite a small place and that sooner or later, children will be found and returned to their former home country. There are no winners in this tug of love, because the child is always damaged by having his or her home torn apart.

For further information: Robin Bowles 0418102732 or 03 94156396 Email: robinbowles@bigpond.com and www.robinbowles.com.au

(Overseas callers 61418102732 or 61394156396)

Australian Federal Police Media Unit 02 61316333

Day 116 to 118 Nuremburg to Stuttgart (Germany)

2010-09-08T22:04:00.006+10:00

5 to 7 September 2010

The past three days have been spent cycling from Nürnberg to Stuttgart.

Yesterday was a day that cyclists cherish – 27 C & a strong tailwind. It even made the hills seem easier, and there were lots of them. The upside of the hills was that there were some very fast downhill sections as well, which was just as well because I’d spent a lot of time re-establishing my German sim-card connection at one of the towns along the route (not an easy task) & needed to make up some time.

Nürnberg was the place where Nazi war criminals were brought to trial at the end of the Second World War. As with my experience in Berlin, I couldn’t help thinking about the similarities between the crimes these people committed against innocent people with the crimes people have committed against Andrew & other innocent children who have been abducted by a parent.

I also thought about the defence the defendants used at the Nürnberg War Trials & the defence that people who’ve helped Melinda & others will probably use once they’re are held to account for their actions as well.

The defendants at Nürnberg were charged with a range of crimes including conspiracy & crimes against human rights. They all proclaimed their innocence by declaring they were just following orders. In other words,” I was just doing what I was told”.

Many of them also challenged the authority of the court to receive & consider evidence.

Sounds familiar.

These are common themes amongst people who are eventually brought to trial for these types of crimes.

When I studied psychology at the University of New England (Australia) in the 1980s, one of the most famous & most chilling experiments I read about (& saw actual footage of) was what became known as the ‘Milgram Experiments’ or the ‘Obedience Experiments’.

Stanley Milgram was a PhD graduate in psychology at Yale University in the USA in the 1960s. His experiments were carried out shortly after the Nürnberg War Trials ended. They were designed to find out if people would blindly obey what an ‘authority figure’ told them to do even if it conflicted with their own values & even if they were confronted with evidence to show them what they were doing was wrong, as was the case with the defendants at Nürnberg.

They did.

This is an extract from an article published in Psychology Today.....
“He found that an average, presumably normal group of New Haven, Connecticut, residents would readily inflict very painful and perhaps even harmful electric shocks on innocent victims.

The subjects believed they were part of an experiment supposedly dealing with the relationship between punishment and learning. An experimenter—who used no coercive powers beyond a stern aura of mechanical and vacant-eyed efficiency—instructed participants to shock a learner by pressing a lever on a machine each time the learner made a mistake on a word-matching task. Each subsequent error led to an increase in the intensity of the shock in 15-volt increments, from 15 to 450 volts.

In actuality, the shock box was a well-crafted prop and the learner an actor who did not actually get shocked. The result: A majority of the subjects continued to obey to the end—believing they were delivering 450 volt shocks—simply because the experimenter commanded them to.”

In some variations on these experiments, the participant could hear the screams of the learner (who was strapped to the shock-box & couldn’t remove himself) but kept going when instructed to by the experimenter. In several cases the participant continued even after the ‘learner’ screamed that they had a heart condition & then stopped screaming after supposedly receiving continuous 450 volt electrical shocks by the participant.

When asked later why they kept delivering the ‘shocks’, the majority of the participants said it was simply because the experimenter told them to.

I guess the findings of Milgram’s experiments indicate very strongly that people are either too frightened or too lazy to challenge people who tell them what to do if that person has some air of authority or confidence about them, even when what they are being told to do is blatantly wrong & when all the evidence shows them that what they are doing is wrong, even when it is causing serious harm to their victims.

However, at the end of the day people have to take personal responsibility for such terrible crimes – particularly those perpetrated against an innocent child, & particularly when all the evidence showed the child was being harmed emotionally, along with a risk of physical harm.

Andrew needs to be found soon(as do all the other kids who are in a similar situation). The people who have been involved in his abduction; subsequent abuse, & appalling denial of human rights must be held to account. When this happens, will they accept personality responsibility or will they try to shift the blame onto someone else?

History & academic studies such as those carried by Milgram & others suggest they won’t accept personal responsibility for their actions because it takes a certain strength of character to admit a mistake.

Day 116: 99.2 km (Cool & windy)
Day 117: 102.5 km (27 C & strong tailwind)
Day 118: 80.4 km (14 C & rain).

Top Speed: 65 kmh

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 6,272 kms (9 countries)

See where Ken is now via the Eyez-On GPS Tracker

Days 108 to 115 Prague (Czech Republic) to Nuremberg (Germany)

2010-09-04T23:01:00.008+10:00

28 August to 4 September 2010

This week I crossed back into Germany after spending the past week or so cycling through parts of the Czech Republic.

A few kilometres beyond the border at a town called Waidhaus (Germany), I stopped at a cafe for breakfast. Much to my surprise the owner recognised me from an article about Andrew that had been published recently in a German magazine. She told me her friends had seen the article as well & that she would tell them I’d passed through their town. She also said she would tell them that Andrew & several other kids are still missing so they can spread the word through email; Facebook, etc. She & her assistant took some German ‘Missing Andrew’ bumper stickers & were putting them up in the shop window as I left.

If my enduring memory of Poland is one of trucks, my enduring memory of the Czech Republic is one of hills. I don’t think there is a flat surface anywhere in the country.

The day before I left the Czech Republic I climbed to an altitude of 720 metres (more than 2100 feet) along roads that seemed to never stop going upwards. Years ago I did some skydiving & this was the altitude at which I did my first jump.

Even Prague is hilly. Coming from Sydney, which is hilly as well, I should be used to it but what makes Prague more difficult is the slippery cobblestone streets & tram-tracks. Both are problematic for someone riding a bicycle. Unlike many of the other European cities I’ve cycled through, Prague is not what I would call ‘bicycle friendly’. There are not many cycleways & most of the time the few cyclists I did see were vying for position with cars; trams, and pedestrians. One of the favourite past-times of car drivers in Prague seems to be ‘bluff the cyclist at the intersection’. It’s a game a cyclist has to have a lot of nerve to play but the cyclist will usually win – Prague drivers don’t like to damage their cars!

I left Prague (which is a beautiful city despite the problems it poses for cyclists) very late in the day last Monday & it took a long time to get beyond the city limits. Just when I thought I’d navigated through the most difficult parts of the city (which is big; busy, & crowded), I suddenly found myself on the largest & most complex highway/freeway interchange I’ve ever seen. To say I was concerned about being trapped in Prague forever would be an understatement.

After many precarious stops on this massive interchange to check my (German) map & the satnav (it was confused as well) while at the same time avoiding trucks & just about every other form of transport - except bicycles, I somehow stumbled across the correct exit & suddenly found myself discharged into the Czech countryside & heading for Plzen – about 100 km away. Plzen is famous for beer & it’s where the term Pilsener comes from. I think they built the city of Plzen for people who survive the interchange.

As I settled down after leaving the city & reacquainted myself with the very pretty Czech countryside, I noticed it was cold. I usually warm up as I get underway but this wasn’t happening. I also realised I was travelling much slower than usual. A glance at the thermometer on the bicycle trip computer showed it was 10 C. I was dressed for a much warmer temperature.

After checking to see if I had a partially-flat rear tyre to explain my slow speed, a look at the surrounding vegetation told me there was a westerly headwind. Westerly winds in this part of the Czech Republic are strong & cold.

This became the theme for the next few days. Low temperatures; very strong headwinds; occasional rain (in fact, more than occasional); hills & mountains, & no sun. And this is summer. For the past few days I’ve been wearing up to 5 layers of clothing. All this reduced my speed to about 5 km/hour at some places & reduced my daily average distance by about 20-30%.

Although any location is possible, I don’t really expect Andrew or any of the other kids who’ve been abducted across international borders by one of their parents & who I’m trying to help raise awareness about to be in the Czech Republic. I came here to get some practice on big hills (& small mountains) before heading elsewhere, but my visit here did attract some media attention to him & to the other abducted kids.

This was one of my objectives so it was a successful deviation.

After another couple of days of cycling across less hilly terrain I arrived in Nürnberg (Nuremberg) & the sun was shining. From here I’ll cycle to Stuttgart where I’ll need to make that important decision about which direction to head having cycled almost 6,000 kms (3,700 miles) through Germany & its neighbouring countries over the past three months in search of Andrew.

PS. Tomorrow is Father’s Day in Australia. This will be the third year that Andrew has been prevented from enjoying this special day with me.

Day 110: Prague to Beroun 56.7 km.
Day 111: Beroun to Plzen 77.7km
Day 112: Plzen to Ropzvadov 77.6 km
Day 113: Ropzvadov (Czech Republic) to Hahnbach (Germany) 85.3 km
Day 114: Hahnbach to Nürnberg (102.8 km)
Weather: 10-17 C. Cold & windy (& often wet).

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 5,990 kms (9 countries)

See where Ken is now via the EYEZ-ON GPS Tracker at this link

Special Blog Update

2010-08-31T11:39:00.011+10:00

30 August 2010

Having spent the past few weeks cycling in what used to be Eastern Europe I can’t help seeing similarities between events that took place here more than 50 years ago as part of the Cold War with the abduction of a child by a parent.

A Wall Was Created and Rights Taken Away
On Sunday 13th August 1961, much to the surprise and amazement of the other three nations that made up the allied forces tasked with overseeing the rebuilding of post-war Germany’s political; economic, & social infrastructure (England; France, and the USA), the government of the Soviet Union unilaterally created a wall through Berlin that divided a once unified German nation. This wall was built along the border of the sector the Soviets had been allocated in East Berlin at the end of World War Two. Those who were on the eastern side of the wall were suddenly separated from everyone & everything they’d once known on the western side of the wall.

The people who were most affected by this decision had no say in it. A totalitarian regime simply took their rights away and forced them into a relationship based on fear and total dependence on rulers who decided for themselves what was in those people’s best interests. The people who suddenly found themselves on the eastern side of the wall were essentially captives to a regime & to a belief system that was at odds with accepted international norms of human behaviours & human rights.

The wall eventually extended for a distance of 1,381 km to completely sever the relationship between everything & everyone to the east & west of the wall, including many other European countries to the east of the wall where the lives of their citizens were also determined for them by the same ruthless regime that had taken control of the eastern part of Germany - a regime based on power & control which was ultimately based on its own fear of what might happen to their own power if the people they were responsible for governing began making their own choices.

Fight for Unification and Human Rights
Much of the rest of what became known as the western world during the Cold War era were horrified by what happened on that day, & in the days & weeks that followed as the length of the wall continued to increase. They began fighting for the reunification of Germany & for the re-establishment of the fundamental human rights that had been taken away from a large part of the German population & from people in many other countries.

Similar struggles were made on the eastern side of the wall, although the personal risks were much higher there because of the total control & power the regime exercised on those it had isolated from the rest of the world, and because of its ‘shoot to kill policy’ for anyone who tried to escape from their control. This included the use of land-mines and self-firing machine guns that were activated by sensors placed in the ground in what became known as the Death Zone between East & West Germany. More than 1000 guard dogs attached to wire runs also formed part of the protective network.

This policy was part of a range of sanctions applied to people under the control of the Soviets who also dared to challenge the ruling elite in ways other than trying to escape, such as questioning their motives. These included being isolated in remote prison camps for lengthy periods; brainwashing, and the loss of what few privileges they & their families had. The psychological & sometimes physical effects on the people affected by this regime on both sides of the wall were terrible.

Despite the difficulties they faced, people in on both sides of the wall fought for the rights of these people & for the reunification of the country; the country’s families, and their family’s friends.

Scars Still Evident
This eventually happened in 1989 with the sudden & dramatic fall of the wall but the scars of what took place for almost 30 years are still evident. Although a massive program is underway to remove as many of these scars as possible, they can still be seen in much of the eastern part of Germany; but they are much more obvious in countries like Poland & the Czech Republic (where I am now) where social and economic development has been very badly affected by what happened during the Cold War & by the lack of funds that are more readily available in Germany because of a program of tax redistribution between what used to be East & West Germany.

This recovery process is long & painful & the pain can be seen on the faces of the people. These faces are much more noticeable by riding a bicycle through these countries than they would be from the sterile glass & steel confines of a fast-moving car. One cannot engage with these people at such an intimate level without feeling for them & hoping they keep moving forward now that they have won their hard fought-for freedom which the rest of the world has taken for granted for such a long time.

Stripped Away Rights and Forcing Their Views
The parents who have abducted Andrew John Thompson (my son); Hannah El-Satway; Alexander & Christopher Watkins, and Panagiotis Laskos are no different to the leaders of the totalitarian government who unilaterally stripped away the rights of the people they were personally responsible for upholding by placing a wall through an entire continent. Like these despots, these parents are forcibly isolating their children from their families; friends, and cultures. In each case these children have been forced into some form of hiding – completely isolated from everything & everyone they once knew, except for their abductors & their abductor’s regimes. They may not be in Soviet prison camps but they may as well be since their freedoms are being completely violated by being held in what amount to psychological prisons.

These parents are also forcing their views onto innocent children in the bizarre belief that they are in some way protecting them. They are more than likely demonising the other parent &/or frightening the children with fabricated or delusional stories about how evil the other parent is; much like the Soviets did with their own ‘captives’. In the vast majority of International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) cases, nothing could be further from the truth. The beliefs of the abducting parents often echo the belief of the Soviet regime that justified its actions by saying they were protecting ‘their’ people from the evils of capitalism & other freedoms such as freedom of speech; freedom of thought, and freedom of movement. Abducting parents see their children as possessions, much like the Soviet regime saw their citizens as well.

What makes the abduction of these particular children ironic is that each of the abducting parents has first-hand experience of the psychological damage (& sometimes the physical damage) done to people who are subjected to this type of rule. They also understand the gross violation of human rights their actions amount to. Their experiences should also make them very conscious of how seriously other people view the way they are violating the rights of these children & the rights of the parents who’ve been denied legal contact with their children.

Denied the Legal Right of Innocence
In my case I have also been denied the legal right to a presumption of innocence until proven guilty – although this has now been re-established by the Family Court of Australia despite Melinda’s efforts to prevent them from adjudicating on her allegations by convening a Kangaroo Court made up of her own family & other supporters to pass judgement on me without any involvement from me in any way at all – much like the ‘justice’ system the Soviets used.

Two of these abducting parents lived in Germany for lengthy periods of time (Melinda Thompson/Stratton & Hossam El Settawy) & the other two (Edyta/ Ustaszewski Watkins & Malgorzata Muchowska) were born & raised in Poland under totalitarian regimes. The two abducting parents who lived in Germany actively contributed to the reunification of that country & the two parents from Poland were quick to benefit from the freedoms that came with the end of the Cold War. Both sets of abducting parents have since placed their children in exactly the same position as the former regime they despised by abducting them & then denying them their legal rights to a relationship with their other parent, as well as violating several other human rights they are entitled to under international laws that are based on UN Conventions which these parent are legally obliged to uphold under international law.

Many people fought & died for the rights of these very same parents who are now ignoring & violating the rights of others, including their own children.

William Stratton Fought for Human Rights
Melinda’s father (Bill Stratton) was a World War Two fighter pilot who was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses for his actions during the Battle of France. He then went on to train fighter pilots who took part in many of the military campaigns that saw the allied forces defeat the Axis powers of Germany; Japan, and Italy. As the head of the New Zealand Air Force in the post-war years, he was actively involved in making sure hard-won freedoms & human rights were maintained all around the world.

At the end of World War Two, the efforts of people like Bill Stratton saw the creation of the UN & several human rights conventions that flowed from its creation. These include the UN Convention on Human Rights; the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, & The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child abduction, which is a subset to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

I met Bill several times towards the end of his life & Melinda often spoke very highly to me about his personal & professional ethics & values. I joined Melinda & her family at his funeral & I can’t help wondering now what he would think about Melinda’s actions if he were alive today. I’m sure he would be horrified to see the rights & freedoms he & others fought so bravely for being ignored & violated by his own daughter.

I think Bill Stratton would also be horrified at the actions of people like Melinda’s brother who has allegedly admitted to my lawyer that he helped with Andrew’s abduction.

Melinda’s brother & other family members have benefitted enormously through the rights and freedoms people like their father fought for & it is again ironic that Melinda’s brother allegedly went to great lengths to prevent Andrew & me from enjoying these same rights.

People all around the world fought for many years for the re-establishment of rights that were unilaterally stripped away from people in 1961 & people all around the world are now fighting for these rights to be restored to the kids they have been unilaterally stripped away from today.

Another irony is that when these parents are tracked down & held to account for their actions (along with people who’ve helped them), they will no doubt demand that their own human rights be respected. They will demand the same presumption of innocence until proven guilty that they denied others, & they will demand the abducted children maintain the relationships with them that they unilaterally denied these same children having with their other parent & with other family members. Rights they will no doubt be provided with because of the way our society operates when individuals & groups with vested interests don’t interfere with our legal systems & its processes.

Supporters and Protectors Fail to Help
This irony is probably not unnoticed by them despite the general lack of insight abducting parents & their supporters & protectors are characterised by. Perhaps one of the reasons why abducting parents go to such great efforts to remain in hiding & why their supporters & others who form part of their protective ring fail to help with the return of abducted children is their need to avoid having to face up to their hypocrisy.

Then there are the other supporters & protectors at the more strategic level – both male & female - who are often driven by a blind devotion to some ideological gender war or cultural/religious battle who use a range of measures to make sure the abducting parents don’t break ranks – much like the guards & patrol dogs used by the Soviets to prevent people escaping from their ideologically-driven regime.

The one good thing about these types of regimes is that they are usually brought undone by their own extreme beliefs & behaviours, & by the actions of others who fight for the restoration of the basic human rights that these regimes go to such great lengths to violate.

Ken
Prague, Czech Republic.

See where Ken is now via the EYEZ-ON GPS Tracker at this link.

Day 101 to 107 Priebus (Germany) to Prague (Czech Republic)

2010-08-28T10:07:00.009+10:00

21 to 27 August 2010

Since leaving Priebus, I’ve been cycling long the Oder-Niesse River that marks the border between Germany & Poland. This has seen me cross backwards & forwards between these two countries several times as I’ve travelled further & further south.

This part of the journey has been made more difficult because of some roads that aren’t the best for cycling with a flat-bar road-bike (including cobblestones & the occasional dirt/mud track in Poland); the very bad weather this region of Europe has been experiencing for the past few weeks that has seen roads & bridges washed away along some of the route I’ve been following, and the now regular IT problems associated with passing from one European country to another.

Another challenge has been trucks – particularly in Poland. At one stage I found myself on the main highway that travels from the western part of Europe eastwards to countries like Russia (the E30). I’ve decided that it is the dream of every Polish boy to drive a truck & that many of them realise their dream. There were thousands of them. I’ve also decided the drivers have very good judgement because although it was pouring with rain; it was dark & I had no lights (bad timing on my part), they were travelling very quickly, and there were no bicycle lanes, none of them hit me.

I needed to spend a couple of days at Gorlitz on the border with Poland & Germany to get a couple of repairs done to the bike after travelling along some fairly rough roads for the previous few days & I stayed at a Pension (B&B) in the town centre. When the owners & staff learned of the reason for my journey they immediately took a handful of bumper stickers. They also sent Andrew’s website link www.findandrew.com to the peak body for hotels & pensions & asked them to distribute the information to all their members.

These types of things have been happening all the way through this journey.

At least one journalist who contacted me a few days ago learned of Andrew’s plight by seeing a “Help Find Andrew” bumper-sticker on a friend’s car after the friend met me on a car ferry in The Netherlands. The journalist is now looking at doing a story.

This is what this part of the “Global Search for Andrew” campaign is all about – getting as much exposure & media attention as possible in the hope that someone recognises Andrew &/or Melinda & notifies either me or the authorities, or someone who knows something about Andrew’s abduction comes forward so Andrew can be reunited with me & the rest of his family.

I’m now in Prague (Czech Republic). One of the reasons for coming here is to tone up on some ‘small’ mountains before heading further south via yet another excursion into Germany, either through Switzerland or through the Pyrenees (France). The Czech Republic is much hillier than some areas I’ve cycled through over the past few weeks & I felt this was a good route to follow at this point in the journey. I certainly felt the difference – particularly on the 100 km day into Prague – but I also felt much stronger than when I began this journey.

I’ll be spending a couple of days here to catch up on some administration (there are always bills to pay & credit cards that expire while you’re in another country) before heading back towards Germany through Nurnburg & Stuttgart. From there I’ll either keep heading west (towards Paris) before going further south or heading south first & then travelling back up through France.

I learned today that AAP in Australia published an article about Andrew’s abduction & about my efforts to find him. Other media groups will likely pick up the story from AAP. The article can be found at this link. Please visit the site & share the article with others.

Weather: Torrential rain at times with some (short) sunny periods.

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 5,469 kms

9 COUNTRIES: Hong Kong, England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany (several times), The Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic.

See where Ken is now via the EYEZ-ON GPS Tracker at this link.

Day 95 to 100 Berlin (Germany) to Priebus (Poland)

2010-08-21T10:29:00.016+10:00

15 to 20 August 2010

For the past few days I’ve been cycling in & out of Poland.

One reason for me coming here is to draw attention to several children who’ve been abducted to this country by one of their parents. Another reason is to draw public (& hopefully political) attention to problems with The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Convention).

In 2009, Alexander & Christopher Watkins were abducted by their mother from Canada. Although their father (Stephen Watkins) had put measures in place to reduce the likelihood of the children being abducted across international borders because of the risk their mother posed to them – a risk that had been recognised by the Canadian courts -, they were able to enter the USA with their mother & then travel by plane to Frankfurt (Germany) where, like my own son, they disappeared without trace.

Stephen’s former wife is Polish & there is strong evidence to suggest the children are now here.

Poland is one of several countries that have very poor records of compliance with their international legal obligations under the Convention.

The purpose of the Convention is to enable abducted children to be found & returned to their “....country of habitual residence....” in the shortest possible time.

The Convention contains three provision that enable judges to order an abducted child not be returned. These are:

1) That the parent making the application consented to the removal & retention of the child.
2) That the child would be exposed to grave risk by being returned.
3) That the child had become settled in its new environment.

Evidence from IPCA cases around the world show that these “Limited Defenses” as they are referred to are being interpreted far too liberally by courts in many jurisdictions - particularly in cases where the abducting parent is a national of the country a child has been abducted to, and in countries where abducted children have dual-nationality with the country they have been abducted to. Poland is one of these countries.

Many abducting parents are aware of these liberal interpretations and go to extreme lengths to ensure these defences will be used to their advantage to increase the likelihood of children they have abducted not being returned to their country of habitual residence. These include:

• moving the child from country to country to avoid detection for a long period of time;
• moving the child from location to location within countries for a long period of time;
• teaching the child a new language and causing it to forget its native language;
• changing the child’s name and other identification details;
• changing the child’s religion;
• denying the child any contact with its other parent;
• portraying the other parent to the child as a ‘bad’ person, and
• using a range of stalling and delaying tactics while Convention matters are before the courts.

In the primary source of interpretation for the Convention, the Explanatory Report, Professor E. Perez-Vera noted the following:

"it would seem necessary to underline the fact that the three types of exception to the rule concerning the return of the child must be applied only so far as they go and no further. This implies above all that they are to be interpreted in a restrictive fashion if the Convention is not to become a dead letter. In fact, the Convention as a whole rests upon the unanimous rejection of this phenomenon of illegal child removals and upon the conviction that the best way to combat them at an international level is to refuse to grant them legal recognition. The practical application of this principle requires that the signatory States be convinced that they belong, despite their differences, to the same legal community within which the authorities of each State acknowledge that the authorities of one of them - those of the child's habitual residence - are in principle best placed to decide upon questions of custody and access. As a result, a systematic invocation of the said exceptions, substituting the forum chosen by the abductor for that of the child's residence, would lead to the collapse of the whole structure of the Convention by depriving it of the spirit of mutual confidence which is its inspiration."

In the case of Panagiotis Laskos, the abducting parent who is also a Polish national who had residency in Australia because of her marriage to Dimitris (an Australian citizen) allegedly carried out a range of tactics designed to permanently sever the relationship between Panagiotis & his father once Panagiotis had been abducted. She then allegedly used another range of tactics to delay the legal process for as long as possible so she could argue Panagiotis had become settled in Poland. The Polish legal process took more than two years to be completed whereas the Convention seeks the return of the child within six weeks of being located.

First a local court in Poland & then the Polish High Court on appeal ruled that Panagiotis (an Australian citizen) was to remain in Poland. The reasons contained in the final ruling can only be described as extremely liberal interpretations of the “Limited Defenses” provisions of the Convention.

Dimitris has now applied to see his son in Poland under the access provisions of the Convention. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that tactics are being used by the abducting parent to delay (& in all likelihood prevent) this from happening as well.

I recently became aware of yet another case of a child being abducted from Australia to Poland. It seems that a range of tactics similar to those listed above (which are almost identical to those used in the case of Panagiotis Laskos) are now being used by the abducting parent in this case to develop an argument that the abducted child has now become settled in Poland & shouldn’t be returned to Australia.

Jurisdictions that allow these tactics to be successful are increasingly being seen as safe havens for abducting parents. This is undermining the whole foundation of the Convention as Professor Perez-Vera predicted would happen if the intent of the Convention wasn’t preserved by the jurisdictions that are signatories to it.

In addition to the emotional & sometimes physical harm abducting parents inflict on their own children, they are also carrying out gross violations of their children’s legal rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states in part:

Article 7
The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.

Article 8
Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference.

Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to re-establishing speedily his or her identity.

Article 9
States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child. Such determination may be necessary in a particular case such as one involving abuse or neglect of the child by the parents, or one where the parents are living separately and a decision must be made as to the child's place of residence.

All parents (Parties); signatory governments (State Parties), and legal systems (including Family Courts) are bound by international law to uphold these rights.

In the cases of the kids mentioned in this blog, their international human rights are being violated by one of the two people who are meant to make sure they are being respected. In some cases, these parents are being aided & abetted by judges who either fail to understand the intent of the Convention; place nationalism ahead of the child’s human rights, or simply choose to ignore the Convention’s intent which is to have children who have been abducted located and returned promptly to their country of habitual residence.

No child deserves to be treated in this way by the very people & institutions that are meant to protect them.

Day 95: Berlin to Grunheide 72 km (Raining & 18 C)
Day 97: Grunheide (Germany) to Pozrzadio (Poland) 92.5 km (Raining & 18 C)
Day 98: Pozrzadio to Krosno Ordzanski 86.7 km (Raining & 18 C)
Day 99: Krosno Ordzanski (Poland) to Forst (Germany) 63.4 (Rain/sunny breaks 18-23 C)
Day 100: Forst (Germany) to Priebus (Poland) 73.7 km (Sunny & 30 C)

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 5,029 kms (plus some) & 7 countries

See where Ken is now via the EYEZ-ON GPS Tracker

Happy 6th Birthday Andrew - Sydney Opera House Steps

2010-08-19T14:43:00.021+10:00

19 August 2010

Friends and colleagues from the NSW Fire Brigades came together on the Sydney Opera House steps to celebrate Andrew’s 6th birthday and to continue to raise awareness about him and other missing children. Next year we hope to do this again with Andrew and Ken with us!

Day 92 to 94 Berlin (Germany)

2010-08-17T22:32:00.006+10:00

12 to 14 August 2010

Social networking sites that use the Internet make it possible for information to be circulated globally to help find kids who’ve been abducted. These sites also make it possible for parents of abducted kids all around the world to share information & provide support to each other. In some cases these parents get to meet each other & provide personal support.

Apart from raising awareness to Andrew in Berlin, the purpose of my visit was to meet Sofia El-Kamel whose 3-year-old daughter Hannah was abducted from Germany by her father in 2009 when she was 2 ½ years-old. As with Andrew, Hannah is still missing & her whereabouts are unknown. Sofia & I were put in contact with each other through a mutual Facebook friend earlier this year & we’ve been in contact ever since.

Sofia & I spent the past three days talking about the abduction of our children; the effects their abductions have had on us, our families, & the many other people affected by International Parental Child Abductions (IPCA), and of course on the children themselves.

The more we talked the more apparent it was that Hannah’s father & Andrew’s mother both fit the Johnston & Girdner psychological profile of a child abductor that I outlined in a previous blog.

As with Melinda, Hannah’s father had abducted her once before & had threatened to take her away from her mother on previous occasions. He had formed beliefs about Sofia that aren’t true; subsequently created additional stories about her that were delusional; is using Hannah to ‘punish’ Sofia, and has unlawfully left Germany with Hannah in the hope that he will find a more favourable legal system elsewhere because the German Family Court legal system didn’t deliver the outcome he wanted.

There are many other similarities between both parents that strengthen their fit with the Johnston & Girdner profile & other psychological profiles that cause great concern to Sofia & me for the emotional & possibly physical well-being of our children.

People like Hannah’s father & Andrew’s mother (and the abducting parents of many other children) justify their heinous acts by claiming they are ‘protecting’ these children from dangerous &/or abusive parents. Their lack of insight causes them to fail to see it is their own actions that are causing immeasurable long-term harm to the very children they believe they are protecting.

Unfortunately, these types of parents tend to gravitate towards people who share their beliefs & who actively contribute to the abuse of these children by supporting and helping the abducting parent. This is usually done on the basis of nothing more than what they’ve been told by the abducting parent. Like the abducting parent, these supporters either ignore or dismiss the findings of experts who were involved in these cases before the children were abducted.

Family members & friends of the abducting parent also protect these people out of misplaced loyalty or because they are not strong enough to stand up to them, or are not prepared to really question what they are being told in case the truth affects their own belief systems. For example, “....there is nothing wrong with my sister/daughter/brother/son.....he/she just has ideas/strong views that are different from other people’s”, etc, etc.

These are all just expressions of denial that serve to help no-one other than to help the abducting parent avoid having to face-up to their own problems. Problems that other family members &/or friends might be affected by as well if they have to confront the unpleasant truth that their family member needs genuine help.

Another thing that became apparent during our discussions is that Sofia & I have enormous amounts of determination & strength & we will both keep fighting for our children’s rights to have a relationship with both parents & to be returned to the countries they were abducted from so the proper legal process can be followed.

Distance: 50 km (plus lots of walking!).

Weather: Heavy rain at times.

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 4,640 kms

See where Ken is now via the EYEZ-ON GPS Tracker

Day 88 to 91 Lubeck to Berlin (Germany)

2010-08-15T20:11:00.009+10:00

8 to 11 August 2010

Lubeck is a beautiful city which is listed on UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites. I spent two days visiting many parts of the city that Melinda lived & worked in for several years before relocating to Frankfurt for two years, after which time she returned to Australia. I also made contact with several people in Lubeck who are now part of the campaign to find Andrew.

I was fortunate to meet a guy called Marcus. He saw me trying to figure out how to get from the city to a camping ground about 15 km away. After asking about the picture of Andrew on my cycling clothes he suggested I stay closer to the city at a guest-house owned by his mother. Marc & his mother made my stay in Lubeck very pleasant & made sure I saw some of the sights. They also took bumper-stickers as did many other people in Lubeck.

Marc told me Lubeck had been a frontier city during the Cold War & that the wall which divided East & West Germany had been adjacent to the city. He also told me some terrible stories about the automatically-operated machine guns & the landmines that were located in what was called the ‘Death Zone’ between East & West.

After visiting Melinda’s former work-place at a company called Drager (ironically I also had dealings with Drager in Australia before meeting Melinda) & then leaving Lubeck I immediately entered the former East Germany & cycled to Schwerin. As I cycled through the city towards the camping ground I was suddenly confronted by an amazing castle. The construction of Schwerin Castle commenced in the 11th Century & has continued almost to the present day. It is currently the seat of the state parliament for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern & rumour has it that it is also occupied by a ghost – hopefully not one of the former politicians.

For the next two days I cycled alongside a long string of huge lakes situated within the Muritz National Park and camped each night on the banks of crystal clear lakes surrounded by magnificent pine forests & farmlands. Many other campers from all over Europe approached me at these sites to ask about Andrew & take bumper-stickers, etc.

Several people I’ve met over the past few days told me they had seen media stories about Andrew & Melinda & the bike ride in German media, including RTL-TV; Bild newspaper, & Viel Spass magazine. This tells me the campaign is achieving one of its main objectives, which is to raise awareness to Andrew & other abducted kids through the media in each country I visit.

I arrived in Berlin on Wednesday night where I was welcomed by a massive thunderstorm for the long ride from the city’s outskirts into the centre of the city where I camped at the most Bohemian campsite I’ve ever seen. It’s a former municipal swimming pool complex called Tentstation & is best described as a back-packers for people with tents. People camp here from all over the world & I’ve handed out lots of bumper-stickers.

Day 88: 88.4 km

Day 89: 77.8 km

Day 90: 88.5 km

Day 91: 112.9 km

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 4,590 kms (plus some) and 6 countries

See where Ken is now via the EYEZ-ON GPS Tracker

New Video by Help Find My Child (HFMC)

2010-08-10T13:51:00.006+10:00

Parents of children whose children are missing rely heavily on many organisations around the world that have been established to help find their children. One of these is a UK missing children organisation called Help Find My Child (HFMC).

HFMC has been actively involved in the search for Andrew since news of his abduction was made public in December 2008 & they have now been granted charity status within the UK. This means they will be able to raise funds while enabling people who live in the UK to donate to get some tax deductions. It also means they will be able to get a greater reach into more areas as part of their never-ending searches for missing children.

To celebrate their newly-achieved status, HFMC has issued a number of media releases & a supporting video. The video features Andrew & several other kids I'm trying to raise awareness to who've been abducted by one of their parents across international borders.

Please take a few moments to watch the video & then send it to as many people as possible & ask them to do the same.

I proudly carry the HFMC logo on my cycling clothing as part of my journey through Europe to raise awareness to my own son; other missing children, and to The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Donations can be made to HFMC at this link.

Day 86 & 87 Lubeck (Germany)

2010-08-08T19:28:00.010+10:00

7 & 8 August 2010

When Andrew was 9 months old, Melinda & I travelled with him through Europe. This is how he came to have his own passport which made it possible for Melinda to abduct him from Australia less than 3 years later.

In the months following Andrew’s abduction I thought I would never be able to return to Europe because of the feelings & emotions that would be associated with returning to a place & places where we travelled as a family. It is also a place where Melinda has a long association & I thought I would be unable to be here without going crazy trying to figure out how close or how far I might be from her & Andrew if they were still in Europe.

I’ve managed to overcome all those concerns. Not only have I spent the past 3 months in Europe, I have spent a large amount of time in several parts of Germany including Frankfurt, which is where Melinda lived before returning to Australia & which is where she initially fled to with Andrew.

Those were major emotional hurdles for me to overcome & I had to fight against some very strong internal forces along the way.

Since leaving Frankfurt several weeks ago & cycling to The Netherlands to meet with officials at the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Convention, I’d been very anxious about the next leg of the journey, which was to return to Germany and cycle to Lubeck in the northern part of the country.

This is where Melinda lived for several years before moving to Frankfurt. She always spoke about Lubeck very passionately & it was one of the places I would have liked to have visited with her & Andrew so he could see where his mother once lived.

After cycling almost 4,500 km I arrived in Lubeck yesterday. It feels very strange being here after hearing so much about this city from Melinda & seeing the pictures she showed me of the old part of the original city, but I’m here & I’ve largely defeated my own fears & anxieties about being here. I’m even writing this blog update at an outside cafe in the town-square, which I’m sure Melinda would have gone to as well. I am also here on our sixth wedding anniversary which makes it even more significant.

I can see why Melinda liked living here. Lubeck is a beautiful city with many historic buildings, some of them dating back to the 1400s. It looks like something from a fairy-tale. Last night a festival was held on the banks of the river & the lights made the city look even more magical.

A big part of this journey for me so far has been about finding the strength to confront & overcome the fears and anxieties associated with Andrew’s abduction & disappearance. I still need to do this on an almost daily basis but I’m doing it. These could have paralysed me emotionally if I’d let them because of the strength of the relationship that existed between me & Melinda before her own demons & tormentors took over & forced her down a path she would never have taken if she’d confronted them instead of running away from them.

The worst part about our personal demons & tormentors is that we can’t run away from them because they are part of our ‘self’. The only way to take control away from them is to confront them no matter how painful this might be or how often that might need to be done. If it isn’t done, we will continue to run or avoid unpleasant situations because although we might feel settled for a while, these internal forces will eventually let us know that they have run away with us as well will eventually force us to run again. This is a vicious & highly destructive cycle.

Melinda & I have many, many, things in common. This is probably what attracted us to each other & which is why we got on so well until Melinda formed a belief in December 2007 that I’d abused Andrew, along with beliefs she formed about several other people at around the same time - beliefs formed through the efforts of her own demons & tormentors. The big difference between us though is that I have the strength to confront & overcome mine whereas at the moment Melinda doesn’t – they are just too strong for her because they have always gained the upper-hand & know how to frighten her into doing what they want, which is to destroy her life & the lives of people close to her. They don’t want her to have settled & meaningful relationships with other people & they use fear to make sure this doesn’t happen because if it does they will no longer exist. It is a battle for survival & they are winning as they have done for many years because it requires a lot of determination & strength to defeat them.

Melinda has untold amounts of determination but at this point she lacks true strength.

This lack of strength is causing untold hardship to Andrew (the effects of which might take years to become apparent); me; my family, and the many friends who are now involved in some way with the effort being made to find him. It also causing serious problems for Melinda that she doesn’t deserve.

Melinda created these demons & tormentors (possibly with the help of others at various times in her life) & she can also destroy them with the help & the combined strength of others. There are many people who will help her with her fight but she needs to find the initial strength to begin this fight & to reach out for that help. No-one can help her while she’s in hiding with old friends who have exercised their control over her for many years & who will do everything they can to keep things as they are.

They will also try to gain control of Andrew through Melinda.

If Melinda is truly concerned about protecting Andrew, she will find the strength to start the process of overcoming the internal forces that are driving her beliefs & actions.

Note: Melinda’s allegations were investigated by police; child protection authorities; a court-appointed psychiatrist, and an independently-selected psychologist who specialises in child abuse cases. They all concluded that Melinda’s allegations were unfounded. The court-appointed psychiatrist & the independently-selected psychologist both expressed serious concerns about the thought processes that caused Melinda to form her belief. The court-appointed psychiatrist used the term ‘demons & tormentors’ in his reports to the court to describe the ways in which Melinda formed her belief. I also took part in an independently-selected polygraph (lie-detector) test. The result showed a greater than 96% likelihood that I was telling the truth. This is the strongest result possible.

See where Ken is now via the EYEZ-ON GPS Tracker

Day 81 to 85 Bremerhaven to Hamburg (Germany)

2010-08-07T10:01:00.007+10:00

1 to 5 August 2010

From Bremerhaven I cycled north to Cuxhaven & then followed the River Elbe to Wingst. This is Germany's second-longest river (after the Rhine). It is 15km wide at Cuxhaven & maintains much of its width all the way to Hamburg. The journey included another ferry crossing to get from the western side of the river to the eastern side at Gluckstadt.

I camped at a camping-ground about 15 km north of Hamburg & the next morning one of the other campers came to talk to me. She had seen me cycling into Hamburg the day before & had Googled www.findandrew.com on her iphone from her car after seeing it on my cycling clothes. She was surprised to see me again at the same place she & her family were also staying.

Her name is Chris & she is a professional photographer from Brazil who now lives in Bonn (Germany) with her second husband & three girls from her first marriage. She & her family were returning from a holiday to Denmark.

Like everyone else who's heard the story about Andrew's abduction, Chris was upset & very concerned about the impact on Andrew. Her own children had not had any contact with their biological father for 10 years but this was because he didn't want any contact with them. This had been very difficult for them & I couldn't understand how a father would not want to have contact with his own children.

Chris has an extensive international network of contacts & is now distributing information about Andrew around the world. She is also linking her own websites as a professional photographer to www.findandrew.com.

These types of things have been happening almost daily.

In Hamburg, I was fortunate to spend some time with the daughter & grand-daughter of a very good friend from my days at the University of New England in Australia. Emma & her partner Olaf now live in Hamburg with their beautiful 2-year-old daughter Evie. As a mother of a very young child herself, Emma expressed her concerns about Andrew not being allowed to have a relationship with his father as well.

Emma & Chris were amazed when I told them how many children are abducted across international borders by one of their parents every year. They both said more needs to be done to protect children from this form of child abuse & that more effort needs to be made by the authorities to find these children & have them returned.

One of the most frequent comments I get from people is that no-one has the right to take the law into their own hands.

I left Hamburg after spending a couple of hours with Emma & Evie to head towards Lubeck, which is about 70 km north of Hamburg but torrential rain forced me to cut the day's ride short after about 20 km.

Day 82: 88 km

Day 83: 94 km

Day 84: 113 km

Day 85: 70.6 km

Weather: Overcast, showers, & torrential rain in Hamburg. 17-20 C

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 4,223 (plus some more) & 6 countries

See where Ken is now via the EYEZ-ON GPS Tracker

Day 80 The Netherlands back into Germany

2010-08-03T09:31:00.014+10:00

31 July 2010

Well....it turned out that Gronigen was not my last night in The Netherlands. I missed the last ferry from Wilhelmshaven to Eckwarden so I stayed the night about 12 km south of the town & caught the ferry the next morning.

I´ve been cycling across the northern part of Germany for the past couple of days to pick up a cycle route from Cuxhaven to Hamburg. Melinda lived & worked in the Hamburg area for several years & I´m hoping to get some media coverage here.

From Hamburg I´ll cycle to Berlin where I´ll meet with Sofia El-Kamal. Her daughter Hannah was abducted from Germany by her father in November 2009 & has also disappeared without trace.

Parents who abduct children seem to have no idea about the damage they cause to these kids. The psychological profile of a parent who abducts a child across international borders is grave cause for concern. A study entitled Prevention of Parent or Family Abduction through Early Identification of Risk Factors was conducted by Dr. Janet Johnston (Judith Wallerstein Center for the Family in Transition) and Dr. Linda Girdner (ABA Center on Children and the Law). The researchers detailed six risk parent profiles for abduction:

1. Have threatened to abduct or abducted previously;
2. Are suspicious and distrustful due to a belief abuse has occurred;
3. Are paranoid-delusional;
4. Are sociopathic;
5. Have strong ties to another country; and
6. Feel disenfranchised from the legal system.

US psychologist Dr Nancy Faulkner says in a paper she delivered to the United Nations that, "These findings by Johnston and Girdner pose a bleak prognosis for children held at the hands of such inept parents".

According to another study by Rand, an abducting parent views the child's needs as secondary to the parental agenda which is to provoke, agitate, control, attack or psychologically torture the other parent. "It should come as no surprise then, that post-divorce parental abduction is considered a serious form of child abuse" (Rand, 1997).

Dr Faulkner´s paper can be read in full at this link. It also contains a list of disorders victims of IPCA develop. There is no way anyone can claim International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) is in a child´s best interests. It is an extreme form of child abuse.

Andrew, Alexander & Christopher Watkins, Hannah El-Settawy and the many other children who have become victims of International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) need to be found as quickly as possible.

See where Ken is now via the Eyez-On GPS Tracker

Day 71 to 79 The Hague to Schoorl to Harlingen to Groningen (The Netherlands)

2010-07-30T23:27:00.010+10:00

26 to 30 July 2010

The past few days have seen me head off from a very positive meeting with the Permanent Bureau in Den Haag to continue raising awareness about Andrew; other kids like Anthony & Christopher Watkins who are also missing after being abducted to Europe from Canada, and to keep highlighting problems with The Hague Convention.

While at Den Haag, I took a ride down to Rotterdam. Until a few years ago this was the busiest shipping port in the world. It is still the second busiest port in the world & recently hosted the beginning of the 2010 Tour de France.

Along with Karen Chapman from the UK-based missing children charity Forever Searc hing, I was interviewed this morning (30 July) from Groningen in The Netherlands by BBC Radio in the UK. Karen & I both spoke about the large numbers of children now being abducted across international borders by a parent and about problems many of us see with The Hague Convention. I also spoke about Andrew’s abduction and about the efforts being made to locate him.

From The Hague I cycled north to Den Helder stopping at Schoorl along the way before heading west across The Afsluitdijk a 32 km long man-made dyke that prevents the North Sea from flooding Holland. It is an amazing piece of engineering. It was first thought of in the 1600s but wasn’t constructed until 1927 (completed 1933).

This part of The Netherlands is famous for its sand-dunes, some of which are almost 60 metres high. As with everything else in this country, there is a cycleway across the dunes which has been constructed in a way that minimises any environmental impact on them while enabling people to travel over them and between them.

Last night I stayed at a campsite just outside Groningen, which will probably be my last stop in The Netherlands before returning to Germany at a place called Emden in the northern part of that country. Campsites in The Netherlands are fabulous. They all have their own restaurant; bar; shops, etc and an increasing number have internet &/or wifi access. Every camping ground I stayed at was located in a natural surrounding and all the staff were extremely friendly. I also met a lot of people from The Netherlands & many other countries at each camping ground.

I wish my trip here was under very different circumstances but I highly recommend The Netherlands as a destination – particularly for cyclists. English is very widely spoken which makes it easy for people like me who can’t speak any other language.

Along my route through The Netherlands I handed out hundreds of ‘Missing Andrew’ bumper-stickers & I know that some of these have been placed on long-distance trucks that travel throughout Europe by people who are genuinely concerned about Andrew’s abduction and disappearance, and about other kids who are in the same terrible situation.

Day 71-76: 284.7 kms
Day 77: 104.6 kms
Day 78: 104.7 kms
Day 79: 110.2 kms

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 3,857.6 (6 countries)

See where Ken is now via the Eyez-On GPS Tracker

Day 75 - Meeting with the First Secretary - The Permanent Bureau, Den Haag (The Hague, The Netherlands)

2010-07-26T22:54:00.006+10:00

26 July 2010

I met this morning in Den Haag (The Hague) with Philippe Lortie & Hannah Baker at the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Philippe is First Secretary of the Permanent Bureau & Hannah is a barrister.

The meeting was very constructive.

They received the letter I delivered on behalf of left-behind parents; missing children organisations, and other interested parties from around the world & expressed their appreciation to everyone for bringing our issues to them personally - particularly by bicycle.

I outlined the concerns raised in our letter & they described some of the measures they were working on to increase the likelihood of children being returned to the countries they are abducted from. They pointed out that about 30% of abducted children aren't returned under the Convention's 'Limited Defenses' provisions. Thousands of kids are abducted across international borders by a parent each year so 30% means hundreds aren't returned. We all agreed that figure was too high & that there is a real risk of the whole structure of the Convention being undermined if these provisions aren't applied as they were intended to be applied when the Convention concluded in 1980.

We discussed the contents of the letter at some length & while they were aware of some of the issues we raised, they weren't aware of several others such as the effect on the Convention of the creation of the Schengen Area in Europe.

The issues raised in the letter will be used to help inform a questionnaire they will be distributing to the 82 Contracting States as a precursor to a meeting of the Special Commission, which at this stage is scheduled to meet in June 2011. This meeting will be attended by about 300 delegates from Contracting States.

We discussed the prospect of a small representative group of parents meeting with the Special Commission as requested in the letter. I now think it might be possible for some of us to address this meeting if we can establish an NGO-type representative group that has an international membership of left-behind-parents; is properly constituted, etc.

We discussed the possibility of the Coalition of Parents of Abducted Children (COPAC) filling this role & I think this could be developed into such a body if we start the process of formalising it now bearing in mind that the Special Commission meets in less than one year. There are no guarantees but after today's meeting I think they will be receptive to a request from such a group.

I think it was a very worthwhile meeting. If we go about things professionally we will be able to at least have a small voice at The Hague for parents of IPCA victims around the world & for the victims themselves - the kids.

See where Ken is now via the Eyez-On GPS Tracker

Australian Cyclist Magazine Article

2010-07-26T10:08:00.006+10:00

Australian Cyclist have featured Ken's search for Andrew in their July/August magazine. Australian Cyclist is the national magazine for recreational, commuting and touring cyclists. It is great that they have picked up the story and are helping get the word out. Click on the link here for the article.

Meeting with the First Secretary of the Permanent Bureau at The Hague Monday 26 July 2010

2010-07-24T21:20:00.002+10:00

Since 13th May 2010, I've flown from one side of the world to the other & then cycled more than 3500 kilometres (2000 miles) through 6 countries to raise awareness about my own child (Andrew) who was abducted by his mother from Australia in April 2008 & who has since disappeared; several other children who've been abducted across international borders by a parent, and The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

I am currently in The Hague in The Netherlands where I have undertaken to hand-deliver a letter to the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Convention on behalf of parents of children who are or who have been victims of IPCA; abducted children themselves who have or have not been returned to the country they were abducted from through the application of the Convention; missing children organisations, and people who work in the area of international human rights.

The Convention is the only international legal instrument available to children and the parents of children who are the victims of International Parental Child Abductions (IPCA) through which they can be returned to the country they were abducted from. It is legally binding on each country that signs it.

The Convention was enacted in 1986 because of concerns about the increasing numbers of children being abducted across international borders by one of their parents and the absence of any international legal mechanism for having them returned. Although the Convention has resulted in thousands of abducted children being returned over almost 30 years, it is the view of many people around the world that it has not kept pace with important political and social changes which have taken place during that time and that this is reducing its effectiveness.

The letter recognises the importance and past successes of the Convention while highlighting weaknesses that have become evident in recent years. It will also express concerns about the ways in which some of the original provisions within the Convention are being interpreted by some jurisdictions.

Signatories to the letter from around the world will be asking for an urgent review of the Convention with input from a representative group of parents and other interested parties with the aim of making sure the Convention reflects the world in which children are now being abducted across international borders by one of their parents. If the Permanent Bureau agrees, it will increase the likelihood of the original intent of the Convention being preserved as much as possible; ie to make sure abducted children are located and returned promptly to their country of habitual residence.

In addition to IPCA being recognised internationally as an extreme form of child abuse, it is a gross violation of an abducted child’s international legal rights as contained in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The First Secretary of the Permanent Bureau at The Hague has agreed to meet with me & to receive the letter. This is a very good sign.

If anyone reading this blog is a parent of an IPCA victim; an IPCA victim themselves, or someone who has a strong interest in this area of international human rights and you would like to be included as a signatory to the letter, please contact me asap at kenthompson@fastmail.fm

Ken
The Hague, Netherlands

Recent articles on Andrew's abduction and disappearance and Ken's search for him

2010-07-23T10:14:00.014+10:00

21 July 2010 - Viel Spass - A women's magazine with a wide readership in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. German Journalist Kai Kapitaen contacted Ken when he heard about his cycle crusade. Click on the article here.

July 2010 - Daniel Morcombe Foundation - The DMF is sponsoring Ken and is a great Foundation that is about protection, safety and opportunity for children. Ken's story appears in their recent newsletter (page 4) which talks about the growing concern of the impact on parental child abduction on the child who is removed from almost everything familiar to them by someone they trust . Click on the newsletter here.

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Day 68 & 69 Amsterdam to The Hague (The Netherlands)

2010-07-21T21:37:00.009+10:00

19 to 21 July 2010

While cycling from Amsterdam to Den Haag (The Hague) yesterday, I was contacted by an official at the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Inter national Child Abduction.

I'd previously contacted them to ask if they would be prepared to meet with me to receive the letter I am delivering on behalf of the parents of victims of International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) and other interested parties, and to spend a short time with them discussing its contents.

I'm pleased to say they have agreed and I will be meeting with either their First Secretary or their Deputy Director-General. Arrangements are still being finalised but the meeting should take place early next week.

This is a sign that the Permanent Bureau is at least willing to receive information about the concerns parents of IPCA victims and other interested parties have about the ways in which the original intent of the Convention is being adversely affected by global political and social changes that have taken place since it was enacted, and about the ways in which parts of the Convention are being interpreted by some jurisdictions in ways they were not intended to be interpreted.

These changes are making it easier for abducting parents to keep IPCA victims in hiding before using other parts of the Convention's provisions to prevent these children being returned to the countries they were abducted from.

The letter includes a request for the Permanent Bureau to work with a representative group of parents of IPCA victims as part of an urgent review of the Convention. I'm hopeful that this will also be one of the topics of discussion when we meet.

Day 69: 95.7 km

Weather: Sunny & Warm 28 C.

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 3,253.4 kms (6 countries)

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

Day 62 to 67 Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

2010-07-19T11:24:00.010+10:00

13 to 18 July 2010

I’ve spent the past few days in Amsterdam with two wonderful friends of a friend in Australia. I’ve been using my time here (& their study) to work on a letter that I intend delivering to the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction at Den Haag (The Hague) in The Netherlands.

The Convention is the only international legal instrument available to children and the parents of children who are the victims of International Parental Child Abductions (IPCA) through which they can be returned to the country they were abducted from. It is legally binding on each country that signs it.

The Convention was enacted in 1986 because of concerns about the increasing numbers of children being abducted across international borders by one of their parents and the absence of any international legal mechanism for having them returned. Although the Convention has resulted in thousands of abducted children being returned over almost 30 years, it is the view of many people around the world that it has not kept pace with important political and social changes which have taken place during that time and that this is reducing its effectiveness.

As part of the bicycle ride component of the Global Search for Andrew campaign, I have undertaken to hand-deliver this letter to the Permanent Bureau on behalf of parents of children who are or who have been victims of IPCA; abducted children themselves who have or have not been returned to the country they were abducted from through the application of the Convention; missing children organisations, and people who work in the area of international human rights.

The letter will recognise the importance and past successes of the Convention while highlighting weaknesses that have become evident in recent years. It will also express concerns about the ways in which some of the original provisions within the Convention are being interpreted by some jurisdictions.

Signatories to the letter from around the world will be asking for an urgent review of the Convention with input from a representative group of parents and other interested parties with the aim of making sure the Convention reflects the world in which children are now being abducted across international borders by one of their parents. If the Permanent Bureau agrees, it will increase the likelihood of the original intent of the Convention being preserved as much as possible; ie to make sure abducted children are located and returned promptly to their country of habitual residence.

In addition to IPCA being recognised internationally as an extreme form of child abuse, it is a gross violation of an abducted child’s international legal rights as contained in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

I have contacted the Permanent Bureau at The Hague to let them know I will be delivering the letter and I am hopeful of someone accepting it from me when I arrive after cycling there from Amsterdam next week.

If anyone reading this blog is a parent of an IPCA victim; an IPCA victim themselves, or someone who has a strong interest in this area of international human rights and you would like to be included as a signatory to the letter, please contact me asap at kenthompson@fastmail.fm

Days: 62 to 77: 158.5 km (within Amsterdam)

Weather: Variable

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 3,156.7 kms (6 countries)

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

Day 54 to 61 The Netherlands - Germany - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2010-07-13T10:07:00.012+10:00

5 to 12 July 2010

After cycling 60 or so km from Rijnwaarden in Germany to Arnhem in The Netherlands, I was contacted by a journalist from one of Germany's largest magazines. He had seen the story on RTLTV in Germany about Andrew and about my search & wanted to do a story. He had to travel some distance so I agreed to cycle back into Germany. Because I became confused leaving Arnhem, I ended up riding more than 90 km for our meeting. I had to do this non-stop to get to the destination on time but media attention is what I'm seeking so the distance didn't matter.

The magazine is distributed in several European countries. It is part of a much bigger German media network & I'm hopeful for more coverage by this group.

After the interview I cycled to Geldrop in the southern part of The Netherlands where I stayed for a couple of days with an Australian family. Kim & Graham & their two boys went out of their way to help me get a few things organised (including buying a new laptop). They even washed my clothes!

From Geldrop I cycled to a camping site at Waalwijk before crossing the Berges Maas River by bicycle ferry to continue the ride to a small town called Vianen just south of Utrecht, where I experienced one of the wildest thunderstorms I've ever seen.

The next day I arrived in Amsterdam on the night of the World Cup Final. Sadly, The Netherlands lost to Spain.

Cycling in The Netherlands is amazing. There is an incredible network of paved cycle ways that connect towns; village, and cities. It is unusual to be sharing a road with any traffic.

The Dutch people have been very interested in Andrew. English is widely spoken here so people are quick to ask me about the little boy on my cycling outfit. Every person is given a bumper sticker with the website address.

I needed to post my old laptop to Australia from Geldrop & customers at the post office asked questions about Andrew & about the other missing kids I talk about when people ask, like Alexander and Christopher Watkins who have been abducted to Europe from Canada & who are also missing. One post office customer insisted on paying the postage for the laptop to Australia. He said he wanted to do something to help.

Is this campaign working? When I was at the campsite at Arnhem, a husband & wife came over to talk to me. They were holidaying in The Netherlands from England & she had seen the interview I did on GMTV in the UK several weeks ago. They asked how everything was going & wished me luck so I guess the message is getting out. All the things I'm doing are quite small on their own but all these little things tend to become one big thing over time.

It will only take one person to make the connections and Andrew & several other kids will be found.

Day 54: 64 km

Day 55: 110 km

Day 56: 108 km

Day 58: 84 km

Day 59: 83 km

Day 60: 86 km

Weather: Very hot (30-35+ Celsius) with thunderstorms & rain on days 59 & 60).

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 2,999.2 kms (6 countries)

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

Please note the attached photos are for private use only. They were taken by Journalist Kai Kapitaen. His permission is required for commercial or media use of these photos.

Some recent photos - Ken will post a blog soon

2010-07-10T10:34:00.011+10:00

The attached photos are for private use only. They were taken by Journalist Kai Kapitaen. His permission is required for commercial or media use of these photos.

Daniel Morcombe Foundation newsletter featuring Ken (click here)

Day 50 to 53 Bad Briesig (Germany) to Rijnwaarden (The Netherlands)

2010-07-06T09:51:00.011+10:00

1 to 4 July 2010

The past few days have been spent cycling through Bonn; Cologne, and Dusseldorf before crossing the border into The Netherlands yesterday afternoon.

I had problems navigating through a heavily-industrialised area just north of Cologne & got totally confused for about two hours. So did the satnav.

Somehow I retraced my steps & eventually found a campsite on the other side of the Rhine River. The confusion added about 40 km to my day's ride.

Since the story about Andrew aired on RTL TV in Germany I've been approached by some more German media outlets who are interested in doing a story as well. This is what I intended achieving. The number of people who learn about Andrew's plight (& of other missing children) through media exposure is way beyond anything I can do on my own.

One family on holiday in Germany from North Korea is now travelling through Germany with "Find Andrew" bumper-stickers plastered on their campervan after we met at a camping ground near Cologne. A primary school teacher from Dusseldorf has distributed Andrew's details to other primary school teachers all over Germany, and bumper stickers have been posted in camping grounds and hotels all along the Mosel & Rhine rivers. Some of them might not stay there for long but lots of people will have seen them.

Day 50: 80 km

Day 51: 80 km
Weather: Hot (30 + Celsius)

Day 52: 108 km
Weather: Hot (30 + Celsius)

Day 53: 62 km
Weather: Hot with a cool afternoon change

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 2,464.2 kms (6 countries)

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

(Note: Ken has just been contacted by a reporter in Germany for a magazine so he will be cycling back to Germany on 6 July for the story – fingers crossed)

Day 42 to 49 Rudesheim to Harheim (Frankfurt) then heading North

2010-07-01T18:07:00.016+10:00

23 to 30 June 2010

The ride from Rudesheim followed the Rhine River to Mainz from where I followed the River Main to Frankfurt. It was at this point that my satnav stopped working. This made it difficult to navigate into Frankfurt because the map I had didn’t contain enough detail.

Fortunately, a local cyclist found me standing on the side of the road looking confused and led me the last 30 km into Frankfurt. He also took a bumper sticker.

I spent 6 days in Frankfurt with a lovely guy called Thorsten Schmidt. We had never met before but got on really well. He is a friend of a friend in Australia and went out of his way to help me get media, get a new satnav (the other one was unserviceable - only 3 months old as well); and show me around his beautiful city.

I arrived in Frankfurt on the night of a World Cup soccer match and it was an amazing experience to be in the town centre with several hundred thousand other people when Germany scored a goal. It was an even greater experience when we were back in town a few days later for the match between Germany and England, which Germany won 4 - 1. Sorry to people in
England who are following this blog but remember that Germany also beat Australia 4 - 0. People at these matches also took Find Andrew bumper stickers.

Through Thorsten's efforts Andrew's abduction and disappearance was featured on German Tv (RTL TV) on Tuesday night. The network has offered to arrange more media as I travel through Germany. This means I am continuing to achieve my objective of getting as much media as possible. The media exposure in England was very good and now it is happening in Germany as well.

Frankfurt was particularly difficult for me emotionally. This is where Andrew was abducted to. It is also where Melinda lived before we met. The three of us visited Melinda's friends in 2005 when Andrew was only 9 months old.

Since leaving Frankfurt on Monday, I've been retracing my ride from Koblenz to Frankfurt by heading back through Koblenz and on to Cologne, which is where I expect to be tonight.

I am writing this post from an internet café in Bonn because my laptop quit working a couple of days ago. I had it checked in Oblenz. The German word for the problem is ‘kaput'. So I will need to get another one and use internet cafes until then.

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 2,134.2 kms

Click here to view the RTL TV Frankfurt story featuring Ken

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

Day 39, 40 & 41 Cochem to Koblenz to Rudesheim (Germany)

2010-06-23T19:22:00.009+10:00

20, 21, 22 June 2010

Sunday’s ride took me from Cochem on the Mosel River to Koblenz at the confluence of the Mosel & Rhine Rivers for the next stage of my journey towards Frankfurt.

It had been raining all day Saturday so I’d stayed at Cochem for another night. Sunday morning began with rain & I thought I would need to spend yet another night there but it gradually eased enough for me to take the chance. The weather improved in the afternoon & I arrived at Koblenz in the early evening after making several stops to avoid the heavier downpours.

Monday’s ride alongside the Rhine through the towns of Bacharach, Boppard & St Goar was quite emotional for me. It brought back many memories of the short time Melinda & I spent with Andrew in Germany in 2005.

My day ended with a ferry ride across the Rhine from Bengin to Rudesheim, which is where I am now, about 30 km from Frankfurt.

Today I met with a German father who I’ve been in contact with since late in 2008, before news about Andrew’s abduction became public. We were put in contact with each other through Robin Bowles. Robin is an Australian true-crime author whose grandson had been abducted from Australia to France several years before. The effects of the abduction on her grandchild; her son; herself, and many other people prompted her to write a book about International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) called “Taken in Contempt”. It is based on Robin’s own IPCA experiences as well as those of several other parents whose children have been abducted from Australia & I’d contacted her after reading it.

Ten years ago this father’s two kids were abducted from Germany to my own country, Australia. Re-establishing & maintaining contact with his kids was made extremely difficult for him & like me, he had no idea where they were for some time after they were abducted. The feelings & emotions he experienced during that time were identical to mine. The emotional impacts on the parents of children who’ve been abducted are well-documented in all the research, as are the extreme long-term psychological effects experienced by the children. It’s hard to believe that one human being could put another one through these types of ordeals – particularly when there is no justification for causing such harm to another person.

As most of us know, all kids want to know who their parents are & they want to have a relationship with both of them. Even if one (or both) of their parents is no longer alive, they want to know about them. It’s an important part of knowing who they are themselves.

Both this father’s children have now reached adulthood & have decided for themselves to get to know their father better. They have visited him several times over the past couple of years & are learning more about who he really is each time they meet. As with every other child who is abducted by a parent, now that they’ve grown to be young adults they are dealing with several emotional issues that are associated with the situation they were placed in.

No child deserves to be placed in this situation. No child deserves to grow into an adult in this way either.

Footnote: Robin Bowles sent a copy of “Taken in Contempt” to Melinda’s family along with a plea for them to accept the seriousness of Andrew’s abduction, & to start working with me & the authorities. It was returned unopened.

Distance Day 39: 57 km

Weather: Rain, clearing to cloud

Distance Day 40: 71 km

Weather: Cloudy & cool

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 1,779.2

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

Day 36 & 37 Traben-Trarbach to Cochem (Germany)

2010-06-19T11:10:00.005+10:00

17 & 18 June 2010

I spent an extra day in Traben-Trarbach because of heavy rain & today’s ride from there to Cochem was a much shorter distance than previous days. This was to compensate for the strong headwind that decided to re-join me today.

Cycling alongside the Mosel River is a wonderful experience & I wish I was doing it under very different circumstances. At practically every twist & turn of the river another castle or church spire appears amongst the steepest vineyards I’ve ever seen. Many houses dating back to the 15th & 16th Century are still in pristine condition. At Beilstein I crossed the river on a small ferry skippered by a very jovial ferry-master who brought the ferry all the way across just to collect me. He also took a bumper-sticker.

Andrew’s German bumper-stickers are now being displayed at several points along this river, which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. Several local businesses took stickers as well. I speak even less German than I do French but everyone seems to understand a web-address & a picture of a child.

Total Distance: 57.7 km

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 1,651.2

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

Day 34 & 35 Echternach (Luxembourg) to Traben-Trarbach (Germany)

2010-06-18T11:14:00.010+10:00

15 & 16 June 2010

15 June was a rest day in Echternach. I spent the first 20 or so kilometres today (16 June) cycling from Ecternach (Luxembourg) alongside the River Sauer until it joined the Mosel River at the Luxembourg / Germany border.

Coming into Germany was always going to be difficult for me emotionally, but it was also difficult physically because of a howling headwind that greeted me for the entire 112 km of the ride alongside the Mosel River & through the magnificent Mosel Valley with its extensive vineyards to Traben-Trarbach.

Germany is difficult for me emotionally for several reasons. Although Melinda is an Australian citizen (& so is Andrew), she lived in Germany for several years before we met. She speaks fluent German & Germany is the country she fled to with Andrew.

Melinda & I visited Germany with Andrew when he was just nine months old. We proudly showed Andrew to the family that Melinda once lived with in Frankfurt. Melinda happily showed me around some parts of Germany that were special for her & that she knew I’d enjoy learning about as well. Germany is also the country in which my mother & late-father met.

Before Melinda formed her belief that I’d been abusing Andrew (along with beliefs she’d formed about other people at around the same time), we’d had a wonderful relationship. Melinda even acknowledged this in the affidavit she submitted to the Family Court in response to my affidavit after I felt I had no choice other than to take the matter court. I’d also expressed serious concerns for Andrew’s welfare because Melinda was refusing him any contact with me.

From the moment Andrew was born Melinda told me how important it was for him to have both parents in his life & that we would work together through any issues that arose between us to make sure he always had the best relationship with both of us.

Melinda & I often told each other how we’d be together for the rest of our lives & I had no reason to think this wouldn’t be the case. Even when we were before the court I was hoping the court-ordered investigation would help Melinda come to realise she’d a mistake so we could work together &/or with someone else to find out why.
Instead, Melinda decided the findings of the investigation were wrong & that the judge & other authorities were not acting in Andrew’s best interest.

Melinda then chose to abduct Andrew from Australia rather than work through the legal process or with anyone else who could have helped. This put her in the horrible position of being an international fugitive with a very young child who now has to be kept in hiding as well.

I’ve said throughout this tragedy that I will do whatever has to be done to help Melinda & Andrew. Punishment of Melinda is not the issue – Andrew’s well-being & his right to have a relationship with his father who loves him are the issues. Similar assurances have been provided by the authorities to Melinda’s family. All Melinda needs to do is contact someone.

Are Andrew & Melinda still in Germany? I don’t know but I have to do whatever I can to make Andrew’s public profile here as high as I can.

This is a lovely country. I can see why Melinda liked living here so much. She would also see it as a good country for Andrew to grow up in. However, Andrew needs to have his father in his life & he has a basic human right to have his father in his life. Melinda is a good person who is doing a terrible thing to Andrew because an awful mistake. As the court-ordered investigation found, Melinda has “..... interpreted innocent events in the most sinister way possible”.

For Andrew’s sake, Melinda & I need to work through her belief. We can either do this together or through third-parties.

The one thing I do not want is for Andrew to be separated from his mother.

Total Distance: 132 km

Weather: Very strong headwind

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 1,593.5 km

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

Day 31, 32 & 33 - Waterloo (Belgium) to Echternach (Luxembourg)

2010-06-15T23:43:00.013+10:00

12 to 14 June 2010

The ride from Waterloo to Namur passed through fields that formed the battleground between the armies of Napoleon & the Duke of Wellington. Noel had told me the soldiers from the respective armies occupied farms & then defended them from the opposing army until such time as Napoleon’s army was forced to retreat.

As I cycled out of Waterloo, I passed the Butte de Lion. This was constructed immediately after the war & contains a statue of a lion atop a huge mound of earth made up from the various battlefields. A few kilometres on & I rode past Napoleon’s Headquarters, which is a simple white two-storey farmhouse located on the main road.

Belgium is a country with two distinct political & social cultures. The northern part is Flemish (a form of Dutch) while the area south of Brussels is French. Brussels is seen by the Flemish as their capital although it is also the capital of Belgium. The capital is meant to be bilingual but French is the dominant language. The country south of Brussels is predominantly French & Namur is their capital.

As I cycled into Namur I heard a car horn sounding repeatedly behind me & thought the driver wanted me to move from where I’d stopped on the side of a busy road to check my map. Just as I was about to call out a few choice words (I felt safe doing this because they would have been in English), I realised it was my cousin, Peter. He’d been driving from Waterloo to Namur for an outing with his partner & recognised the picture of Andrew on the back of my cycling outfit. It was a real highlight to be recognised in Belgium by someone who knew me & who recognised Andrew!

Namur is a large city & I arrived there quite early. After stopping for a while I decided to follow the Meuse River for another 30km to Dinant, which is located on the banks of the river beneath a very imposing citadel.

After a night at Dinant, I cycled further south to Arlon. This was a long ride & it was made harder because the day was spent climbing from the moment I left Dinant. I rarely got out of the lowest gears throughout the day. I’d been hoping to get some accommodation before Arlon but this didn’t happen & I arrived there quite late to find all the hotels were full, which surprised me because it was Sunday night. After making some phone calls & struggling to communicate with hotel staff using my very limited French (Bonjour; Bonsoir; Oui; Merci, & Aurevoir), I found somewhere to stay a few kilometres from the town centre right on nightfall.

From Arlon I was only 26 km from Luxembourg. I’d thought about staying in Luxembourg (the city) after the previous day’s ride but I decided to push on towards Echternach on the border between Luxembourg (the country) & Germany. This was a wonderful ride along a cycleway for most of the distance. It used to be a railway line that connected Luxembourg with the various towns & villages between there & Echternach. This railway line has been converted into a beautifully paved cycleway that passes through magnificent forests & lush green grazing land. This part of Luxembourg is also known as “Little Switzerland”. It’s the first time I’ve ever cycled across a country in a single day. Some former work colleagues cycled across Australia last year & it took them four weeks.

It’s ironic that Melinda & I used to cycle along similar cycleways (known as rail trails) in Victoria (Australia). We did several of these rides while Melinda was pregnant with Andrew & I have many happy memories of towing Andrew along some of these rail trails in his bicycle trailer. It’s not right that all these experiences have been taken away from him for nothing more than a mistaken belief.

Distance Day 31: 76 km

Distance Day 32: 117 km

Distance Day 33: 80 km

Weather: Variable 16-18 C.

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 1,461.5 km

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

Day 25 to 30 Diksmuide to Waterloo (Belgium)

2010-06-13T10:11:00.030+10:00

6 to 11 June 2010

Day 25 was a rest day in Diksmuide. Day 26 took me through several small towns after leaving Diksmuid & cycling to Kortrjk. I also cycled alongside one of Belgium’s many canals for several kilometres, which made a nice change from riding with traffic.

The ride from Kortrijk to Waterloo (about 15km south of Brussells) on Day 27 was the longest day’s ride yet & it was made slow by lengthy periods of heavy rain, plus some hilly terrain as I got closer to my destination.

Waterloo is the place where the Duke of Wellington forced Napoleon Bonaparte’s retreat & brought an end to the Napoleonic Wars. It is also where some of my relatives live & I took some time to meet them.

My late father’s cousin Noel Ortiger-Booth is 96 years old. Although he can trace his family tree back to 16^th-century France, Noel was born in the UK; raised in India, and then settled in Belgium after being a soldier in the Second World War, which is where he met his late wife of 65 years, Denise. Noel seems to have been deployed to just about every European & Middle eastern battle-ground of that war. He was at Dunkirk when the allied forces had to retreat. He served in Egypt; Northern Africa; Libya; Syria, & Cyprus to name just a few places. He was also in Berlin when the war ended. The number of personal stories he recounts about the Second World War are extraordinary, as is his knowledge of the French side of my family history through my paternal grandmother’s lineage (Andrew’s great-grandmother).

Andrew’s grandfather on his mother’s side also had an illustrious military career. Bill Stratton was a highly-decorated WWII fighter pilot who was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses for his actions in the Battle of France before he went on to train the same Spitfire & Hurricane pilots who supported Noel while he was fighting on the ground in places like Africa. After the war, Andrew’s grandfather rose to become Chief of Staff of the New Zealand Air Force. My parents had significant military & para-military careers as well, having both served in England & Germany during WWII.

This is also Andrew’s family history & it breaks my heart to think he might never know about any of this or, at best, he might only learn of Melinda’s father’s career through her.

Neither Melinda nor I condoned any type of violence & Melinda was particularly careful to shield Andrew from violence on TV etc but we both respected the courage of people like Noel & of our own parents who were placed in situations that weren’t of their own making.

Andrew is being denied this knowledge about his heritage because of an unfounded belief that Melinda has formed about me & other people. These beliefs are guiding her actions & are strongly influencing the formation of Andrew’s own identity, which is becoming increasingly false. What is he being told about his family; his heritage; his home, & all the people who love him & who he’s been taken away from? Melinda believes she is doing the right thing & that she is protecting him. She’s not. She’s actually harming him. This is borne out by the findings of a large amount of research into children who were abducted by one of their parents – particularly when those children were abducted across international borders.

Perhaps other people are helping Melinda to remain in hiding with Andrew & perhaps they share the same view as she does, but these people are probably not aware of all the facts. If they were they would be working with me &/or the authorities to help Melinda come to terms with the fact that she has made a terrible mistake, and to help her understand why she formed this belief. They would also be helping Andrew to be reunited with me & the rest of his family without damaging the strong relationship he has with his mother.

If people are helping Melinda, they are contributing to the emotional damage that is being inflicted upon a very young child by one of the two people who are meant to be protecting him.

This has to stop.

Total Distance: Diksmuid to Kortrijk: 72 km

Temperature: 18 C

Total Distance: Kortrijk to Waterloo: 110 km

Temperature: 17 C (& raining).

Total Distance: Waterloo 14 km (bicycle shop to replace damaged front tyre).

OVERALL CYCLING DISTANCE: 1,188.5 kms

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

Day 23 & 24 Dover (England) to Dunkirk (France) to Diksmuide (Belgium)

2010-06-07T10:08:00.004+10:00

4 & 5 June 2010

One of the organisations whose logo I proudly carry on my cycling outfit is Dads in Distress. DiDS was established several years ago by Tony Miller in Australia after he became concerned about the lack of support for fathers experiencing serious emotional distress because of the trauma associated with losing contact with their children (or having that contact severely restricted) as a result of the breakdown of their relationship with their partners.

Sadly, many fathers find the ordeal too much to bear & take their own lives. Tony reasoned that if fathers had somewhere to go to talk about their issues & feelings then the risk of them harming themselves would reduce dramatically. He decided to provide a forum for fathers where they could come together at no cost to talk about the distress they were going through & to talk about the many frustrations they felt about the Family Court of Australia & law enforcement processes in which fathers often seem to be at a disadvantage.

This forum became DiDS. Tony had experienced this first-hand & he knew that by bringing fathers together who were in similar situations they would be able to help themselves & others get through what for many is the most difficult time in their lives.

At every DiDS meeting there is an empty chair to symbolise the many fathers who don’t get through their ordeal & who take their own lives. It is estimated that up to 8 fathers commit suicide each week in Australia alone. Perhaps these lives could have been saved if these fathers or someone close to them had known about DiDS.

I was in a very distressed state in the months following Andrew’s abduction & disappearance. I was introduced to DiDS by another father who was going through an extremely difficult separation in which he was also being denied access to his child by his former partner.

Over a period of many months of meetings & forming new friendships with fathers in similar situations, DiDS helped me develop the emotional strength I needed to embark on this bicycle ride. We discussed the ride as a group at several of our Wednesday night meetings at the Bankstown branch of DiDS when it was nothing more than an idea. Whenever I told them I thought it would be too difficult to do emotionally, they spurred me on by telling me they would all be there if I needed someone to talk to & that they would be thinking of me at their weekly meetings. They were helping me remove the obstacles, which is what DiDS is very good at doing.

Peter Sorensen is one of the fathers who take part at these meetings. Peter & his second wife Miriam are keen cyclists who cycled through France a few years ago. Peter told me about a cycle route that he and Miriam had followed that extends from France to Holland called the North Sea Bicycle Route & I wanted to travel at least part of it as a sign of respect & thanks for Peter & everyone else at DiDS for all their support over the past 18 months – particularly Paul Saurene, who is the convenor of Bankstown DiDS.

Although the temperature was high & there was an occasional head-wind, I also decided this would be my first 100km day to show just how determined everyone at DiDS is to make sure they have the best relationship possible with their kids under what are often very trying circumstances; & to show that these fathers will work together to navigate their way through whatever obstacles are placed in their paths to prevent or severely limit that relationship (& there are sometimes many). I also wanted to do it to show that all fathers have the strength to fight back when they’ve been hurt so badly by a former partner who will even resort to using their own child as a weapon against them, that life seems to hold no meaning for them.

After crossing the English Channel the day before by ferry from Dover to Dunkirk, I cycled south to Bollezele (France) to join the North Sea Bicycle Route. I then followed it through Esquelbecq; Wormhout; Bambecque, and across the border of France & Belgium at Oost-Cappel before arriving at Diksmuide (Belgium) – a distance of 102 km. Several people along the route asked about Andrew’s picture & took bumper-stickers. Everyone understands a picture of a child & a website address, even if they don’t speak English!

The route took me through some of the most famous battle-grounds of the First World War. These reminded me of just how hard people have fought over many years & the sacrifices they’ve made to establish & protect our fundamental human rights. One of these is the U nited Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It states that all children have a right to a relationship with both parents. The only person who can legally remove or suspend this right is a judge in a properly constituted court of law. Children like Andrew have had this right taken away from them by one of the two people who are meant to protect them from harm, & who are meant to preserve this fundamental right on their behalf. It is up to the more responsible adults of the world to do whatever can be done to have these children’s rights restored.

In part, this is what this bicycle ride is about.

DiDS is a registered charity & donations can be made at this link.

Total Distance: 102.7 km (plus 26 km from Dover to ferry & ferry to Dunkirk)

Average: 18.7 km/h

Temperature 34-36 C

Overall cycling distance: 992.5 kms

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

Day 21 & 22 Eastbourne to Collier Street hamlet (near Tonbridge) to Dover

2010-06-04T23:44:00.022+10:00

2 & 3 June 2010

The ride from Eastbourne hugged the flat coastline until Hastings & then became a long uphill climb all the way to Collier Street hamlet, near Tonbridge.

The reason I’d come here was to meet a wonderful person called Karen Chapman & to collect a supply of ‘Missing Andrew’ bumper-stickers that had been sent from Australia. I’d taken about 500 with me on the bike & needed to restock before going to Europe.

Karen is the President of UK missing children organisation Forever Searching & I am privileged to be carrying their logo on my cycling clothing. This organisation has worked closely with me since news of Andrew’s abduction was made public in December 2008. They arranged posters of Andrew to be placed on bus-sheds immediately afterwards. Since then they have produced & distributed YouTube videos featuring Andrew; issued media releases in the UK & Europe, and made sure Andrew’s profile is kept as high as possible through a wide range of social networking media. They’ve also included Andrew in all their promotional & fund-raising events.

Forever Searching worked closely with the National Policing Improvement Authority to develop & promote the UK launch of International Missing Children’s Day, in which Andrew was featured.

Almost 50 children are currently registered with Forever Searching. These include children who have simply vanished for no obvious reason; children abducted by a stranger, & children who have been abducted by a parent. In addition to my own son, these include:

Alexander & Christopher Watkins (Abducted from Canada to Poland or Germany)

Daniel Morcombe (Missing in Australia)

Andrew Gosden (Missing within the UK)

Charles Hovarth (Missing in Canada)

Madeleine McCann (Missing from Portugal)

Caelan & Devlan Spooner (Missing in Zambia)

Deonna Shipman (Missing from New York, USA)

Sigourney Chisholm (Missing from Canada)

Karen & other people at Forever Searching (including Kathy Atkinson who has worked extensively on Andrew’s case) work tirelessly to help raise awareness about these children & to have them reunited with their families. International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) is a major concern for them as it is for missing children organisations around the world &, increasingly, law enforcement agencies such as the NPIA who now have officers working full-time on these cases.

Karen & her partner Mark drove out to meet me & to guide me into their lovely hamlet. A short stop at their local pub along the way for a couple of quick ‘pints’ & we headed off to their home for a beautiful baked dinner.

Karen & I spent a lot of time talking about missing children & what measures needed to be put in place to reduce the likelihood of children being abducted in the first place. We also talked about what needed to be done to increase the likelihood of them being found & returned as quickly as possible through international agreements such as The Hague Convention. We agreed that Forever Searching & I will continue to work together on these issues.

After a good night’s sleep & some expert guidance from Mark, I cycled out of their picturesque valley for some nice flat riding until I reached the hills outside Dover.

Today I will be leaving the UK for Europe.

Forever Searching is a registered charity within the UK. People can make a tax-deductible donation to them via contact at their website.

Total Distance: 173 kms

Temperature: 22 C

Overall Cycling Distance: 890 kms

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

Click here for the The Sun, UK article (3 June 2010) featuring Ken and his search for Andre w.

Day 18,19 & 20 Bournemouth to Isle of Wight to Littlehampton to Eastbourne

2010-06-02T11:27:00.019+10:00

30, 31 May & 1 June 2010

Over the past three days I’ve cycled more than 220 kilometres from Bournemouth to Eastbourne in the South-eastern part of England via the Isle of Wight. I’ve handed out dozens of ‘Missing Andrew’ bumper-stickers along the way. A wonderful staff member at the Wightlink ferry terminal downloaded posters of Andrew while I was there & placed them in the windows of the terminal.

I’d arrived in Bournemouth on Saturday night with almost no brakes because of a combination of long distances; heavy braking (London traffic & some serious downhill sections in rural England); the weight of all the equipment I’m carrying on the back of the bicycle, and rain. The rear wheel of my bicycle was specially made by my local bicycle shop (Velofix Cycles in Rozelle, Sydney) to handle all the weight so I didn’t want the rim damaged by coming into contact with the almost now-bare metal of the brake-pad holders. This meant using the front brake as much as possible for the last 10-20 km into Bournemouth (not the safest way to brake & not something that should be tried at home).

I was hoping to get some new brake pads in Bournemouth but the Bank Holiday meant all the bike shops were closed. I wasn’t looking forward to cycling across the Isle of Wight & further afield nursing the brakes all the way but I wanted to keep moving towards the European leg of the journey. After cycling carefully for about 20 kilometres along a fairly quite (for England) country road I spotted a sign in the bushes that said “Bicycle Barn – 100s of Bicycles”. After following the direction the sign was pointing towards for about 50 metres I came across a large country barn that had been turned into a bicycle shop - & it was open.

As soon as I told the staff what I was doing & the need for some new brakes, Stephen dropped everything to fit a new set of brakes for me. He also replaced a very worn brake cable & lubricated all the components for me. Less than an hour later the Bicycle Barn was displaying ‘Missing Andrew’ bumper-stickers & I was back on the road to the ferry that would take me to the Isle of Wight.

After two ferry rides & a one night stay in Newport (IOW), I was cycling towards Chichester & then Littlehampton where I stumbled across the East Beach Guest House.

I’ve said throughout this campaign that I am a great believer in Six Degrees of Separation. This belief was reinforced when I met the owners of the East Beach (Trina & Antony).

Antony is English & Trina is Australian. They had lived in Australia before moving to England 6 years ago. After a short conversation with Trina, we realised that I’d gone to school in Australia with Trina’s older sister. Trina & her family had also grown up within a few kilometres of where my cousin lived & had then moved to within 5 kilometres of where my late-father lived for many years (my step-mother still lives there). We also established that Trina had worked in the same town in which my family had owned a small general store for several years.

Antony had lived within a short distance of my current home in Sydney. I believe strongly that Six Degrees of Separation will help find Andrew. This is why I’m doing this ride. It’s also the reason I’m asking as many people as possible in as many countries as possible to join Andrew’s Facebook Cause, & to ask their friends to join as well. Someone, somewhere, will make the connections.

After two days of cool but fine weather, the rain closed in again & this coupled with some long rolling hills as I rode across the South-eastern Downs made for a slow day’s ride. It also included a couple of very steep downhill sections commencing just outside Brighton & then again as I descended the South-eastern Downs into Eastbourne - but at least I had good brakes this time.

Total Distance: 225 kilometres (plus two ferry journeys to & from the IOW)

Temperature range: 12-16 Celsius.

See where Ken has cycled and where he is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker

Day 16 & 17 Winchester to Salisbury to Bournemouth

2010-05-31T22:04:00.020+10:00

29 & 30 May 2010

The past couple of days have been quite varied. The ride from Winchester to Salisbury was very hilly in parts, rising to about 158 metres above sea level before decending again & then rising & decending onto the Salisbury Plains.

It was a day marked by hills; strong headwinds & crosswinds, and a very busy highway that I unwittingly found myself on right on the eve of the UK’s Bank Holiday long weekend. I think the entire UK population was on that road at that time. I felt very intimidated because I was actually going faster than them so I found a place to turn off that took me into Salisbury through a lengthy process of trial & error along a series of B roads & slightly quieter A roads than the one I’d been on (I’ve learned there are A roads & A ROADS that should be Motorways!!).

Staff & patrons in several pubs; guest houses, & cafes in Winchester & Salisbury (& at several places in between) asked for Andrew’s bumper stickers. The owner as well as the Assistant Manager of the Giffard Guest House in Winchester (Peter & Lisa) & other members of staff all took bumper stickers (including Missy the Macaw – see photo). Andrew’s website has now been linked to the Giffard Guest House website as well as websites of businesses in several other towns along the way.

Locals who visit these places (& who visit their websites) have contacts all over the world & many thousands of people from all over the UK & other countries visit these places every year as tourists; students, & business-people. I met a couple of Vietnamese visitors at one of these guest houses who asked about Andrew after seeing his picture on the cycling clothing. I told them that although I’m in now searching for him in England & Europe, Andrew could be anywhere in the world & they’ve taken bumper-stickers back to Vietnam with them. They’ve also promised to download posters from Andrew’s website when they get back home & to give Andrew’s details to the ex-pat communities in that country.

I’ve received the same response from people I’ve met along the way from countries as diverse as Malta; Greece; Germany; Hong Kong; Sweden, and many other European & non-European countries. Their sentiments are the same – Andrew should have the best possible relationship with his mum & dad & that Melinda should not be taking such an important matter as Andrew’s well-being into her own hands – particularly when all the evidence shows her beliefs to be wrong.

The journey from Salisbury to Bournemouth was marked by rain; wind, and cold temperatures. It was a very slow day’s cycling because I was wet & the wind-chill factor was very high so I couldn’t take advantage of the downhill sections because of the extra wind generated by going quickly. After a couple of hours, I was so cold & wet that I stopped at the Wooden Spoon Hotel, which is nestled between Salisbury & Ringwood, to try & warm up. One of the staff (Stacey) recognised me from the Good Morning TV program & asked in her very distinctive Somerset accent about Andrew (I was born in Somerset so I can say that). She could see how cold I was & made me the biggest pot of hot tea I’ve ever seen, which I used to warm my hands. You’re a life-saver Stacey.

Thanks to Stacey’s influence The Wooden Spoon Hotel & several other local businesses are now displaying Andrew’s bumper-sticker.

After taking Stacey’s directions (I would have headed off in the wrong direction if it hadn’t been for her because of a wet map & problems with the sat nav getting a signal because of the cloud cover), I was able to find my way through the New Forest to Bournemouth. The New Forest is an amazing piece of National Park & is an oasis of quiet in one of the most densely populated parts of England. It throws up the most unexpected sights along its entire route.

After eventually reaching Bournemouth at about 9:00 pm, it was time for a hot meal & a good night’s sleep.

The common theme throughout the past couple of days is people’s amazement when I tell them that children who live in countries like the UK; Australia; New Zealand, and Canada are much more at risk of being abducted & harmed (emotionally &/or physically) by one of their parents than by a complete stranger. The tragic case of an English mother who murdered her two children in Spain two weeks ago after being in hiding for 3 years is very much in the minds of people over here. It also serves to show that some mothers do harm their own children when they are in an extreme state.

Andrew is already experiencing extreme emotional harm & my greatest concern is that Melinda could harm him physically as well.

Several people have told me they will be putting measures in place to protect their children from International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) because they are going through complex Family Court issues themselves and their former partners meet several of the criteria contained in the IPCA Risk Profile.

Total Distance: 150 km

(See where Ken has cycled and where he is now via the Eye-Zon gps tracker)

Day 14 & 15 London to Winchester

2010-05-29T09:26:00.023+10:00

27 & 28 May 2010

The past two days have been spent cycling from London (Kingston-on-Thames) to Winchester in the southeast of England.

After leaving the flat land alongside the River Thames, the ride became quite steep after passing through Guildford. It has been pretty well uphill ever since then & has taken me through dense pine forests and open farmlands, as well as the never-ending flow of traffic (I now know why cyclists touring England carry tents on their bikes. It's in case they can't get across a roundabout before nightfall!).

I stayed at the Wheatsheaf Inn, Grayswood on Wednesday night. The dinner was the best I've had since arriving in England. Ken & his staff have the best menu in the district. All the staff took 'Missing Andrew' bumper stickers & the pub has now linked Andrew's website to theirs. Everyone at the pub has joined Andrew's Facebook Cause as well. These people have Facebook Friends all over the world.

Several people pulled up alongside me in their cars along the way to say they saw the interview on GMTV & offered words of encouragement. One was an 86-year-old man driving a classic Jaguar SS who pulled me over to the side of the road to talk. He told me he was born in Australia (Melbourne) & joined the navy when he was 13. He now lives in the UK & owns a collection of classic cars. As you can see from the photos, he is something of a classic himself!

People all along the route have joined the Global Search for Andrew Facebook Cause & have asked their friends from all over the world to join as well. This has already seen a big jump in the numbers of people joining Andrew's Facebook Cause over the past couple of weeks.

Being on the road since the launch of IMCD has given me a lot of time to reflect on the whole issue of International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) & the terrible effects it has on the kids & their left behind parents. More than 1,000 kids are abducted across international borders by a parent each year from the UK; about 400 each year from Canada, and about 300-600 each year from Australia (the country with the highest per capita rate of IPCA in the world). More needs to be done to protect children from this heinous crime & from the gross violation of the international legal rights they are entitled to under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

I'm heading off this morning to Bournemouth via Salisbury. I'll be thinking about this a lot.

Total distance (past 2 days): 150 km

Top Speed: 51 kmh

TOTAL RIDING DISTANCE TO DATE: 431.9 km

(See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker)

Day 12 - Launch of International Missing Children's Day 25 May 2010

2010-05-27T10:22:00.025+10:00

Yesterday was the UK launch of International Missing Children’s Day (IMCD).

The day began with an interview about Andrew (& the bicycle ride) on ITV’s Good Morning TV program. This is the most widely viewed news & public interest program in the UK. It is also broadcast into Europe where it is watched by many thousands of UK ex-pats & holiday-makers. Photographs of Andrew & Melinda were featured throughout the program & have now been posted on the GMTV website, as well as their Twitter page.

This was followed a short time later by the official launch of IMCD at The Deck, which is part of the National Theatre. The launch was attended by a large number of very senior government officials; left-behind-parents & family members, and national & international media.

I was invited to deliver a speech as part of the launch during which I raised a number of issues including the enormous range of negative psychological effects experienced by abducted children; the role of the international media in helping to find missing children; shortcomings in The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (The Hague Convention); the need for improved anti-child abduction legislation in several countries; the gross violation by abducting parents of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, & the role of new technologies in locating missing children.

I also talked about the circumstances surrounding Andrew’s abduction & disappearance, & the international effort being put into finding him and Melinda.

Immediately after the launch, there was a very high level of media interest in Andrew by media outlets including the BBC & Al Jazeera.

The following links will take you to the GMTV interview & a BBC article. http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/thismorning/reallife/missingchildren/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8703867.stm

It was a very moving experience being with other parents whose children have been abducted and meeting for the first time with the many people who are trying to find them, including representatives of missing children organisations, senior government officials including the UK’s most senior police officers, and senior staff from the UK Police Missing Children’s Unit.

A highlight of the event for me was meeting six-year-old Nadia Taylor & her mother Sarah. Nadia was abducted to Libya by her father when she was four. Her mother fought all efforts by Nadia’s father to stop Nadia being returned to the UK and to prevent Nadia having any contact with her mother. Sarah refused to give up & took the unprecedented measure of enlisting the personal support of Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi to have Nadia returned to the UK. Nadia is a wonderful little girl who sat with me while her mother delivered an address to the audience. Nadia kept telling me to keep looking for Andrew because she knows he wants to see his dad.

Despite everything that has happened, Nadia’s mother is doing everything possible to make sure Nadia has every opportunity to maintain her relationship with her father. I also had a long talk to Kate McCann whose search for her daughter Madeleine is unrelenting. We’ve agreed to stay in touch because we both share the horrible ordeal of not knowing where our children are.

I also caught up with two wonderful & determined ladies I’d been very privileged to meet a couple of days before the launch. Denise Allan-Hovarth has been searching for her son Charles who disappeared while holidaying in Canada 21 years ago. Cathy Phillips has been searching for her sister (Maria) who disappeared from the southern part of England 21 years ago as well & her case has just been reopened by police. Neither of them has given up searching for their child & sibling.

The list of parents I met at the launch is very extensive. Sadly, it’s a sign of how serious the problem of International Parental Child Abduction has become. Everyone agreed that more needs to be done to reduce the risk of this happening to other kids by addressing the types of issues I raised in my speech.

My London cycling skills have improved to the extent that the past four days have seen me cycling more than 200 kilometres in & around Central London (even the bus drivers & taxi drivers are sharing the bus lanes with me now!). I cycled to Buckingham Palace on Sunday where dozens of people from many different countries approached me to ask about Andrew & to take ‘Missing Andrew’ bumper stickers. The same thing happened at the other tourist icons I cycled to as well.

At the end of the IMCD events, I cycled along the banks of the Thames River from to Kingston-on-Thames to prepare for the next stage of the ride, which will take me from London to Bournemouth in the south of England.

See where Ken is now via the Eye-Zon GPS Tracker http://www.eye-zon.com/EyezonBlack20090213/Find_Andrew.php