Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Tuesday 25th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

9. What recent discussions he has had with the Mexican authorities on progress in the investigation into the abduction of Lydia Hunt.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr Jeremy Browne)]

I raised the case directly with the Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister during my meeting with her in Mexico City last Tuesday, and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary also raised it when he met the Mexican Foreign Minister in London in June. We expressed our concerns about Lydia Hunt’s welfare, the delays in locating her, and the slow progress in resolving the case through the courts.

[Stephen Timms]

I am very grateful to the Minister. My constituent Jonathan Hunt has been seeking his daughter’s return for three years since she was abducted to Mexico, although the country is a signatory to The Hague convention, which requires the determination of cases involving minors within six weeks. What more can the Minister do to help Lydia, and how can he tackle non-compliance with the convention by member states such as Mexico?

[Mr Browne]

That, in essence, is the point that I put to the Minister when I saw her last week. We are keen for progress to be made as quickly as possible, but we are told by the Mexicans that legal obstacles prevent it from being made as quickly as we should like. We continue to press the case of the right hon. Gentleman’s constituent.