GEORGE Obiso hasn't seen his young sons since his ex-wife took the boys on a Japanese holiday and didn't return.
Like at least 13 other distraught Australian parents, the Gold Coast IT expert, 40, is living a nightmare.
Two years after they went, he doesn't know where his children are, what they now look like or if they remember him.
Some of the 13 parents haven't seen their children for seven years. In most cases a separation, divorce or custody battle has led one parent to abscond.
Some of the children have had their heads shaved, their hair dyed and their names changed in a bid to conceal their identities to avoid being found.
Others have been taken to countries where Australian custody laws mean nothing – such as Japan, where the population of almost 130 million makes it easy for children to just disappear.
Queensland alone has five current cases of parental kidnapping, including that of Mr Obiso's sons Anthony, 10, and Jorge, 6, missing since the end of 2004 when his ex-wife Sachi Shimada took them on a court-approved trip to Japan for her brother's wedding in Yokohama.
"It's hell, a bad dream that keeps going," said Mr Obiso, who has spent $50,000 trying to find his sons.
"Every night I dream of my sons and wonder if I'll ever see them again. The pain never leaves me."
He said he had been terrified the boys would not come back from Japan "but the court said she could take them if she left her car and some money as a bond".
He hasn't heard from her since and the phone numbers she provided have been disconnected.
The Family Court has not tried to claim the $20,000 and 2001 Toyota Corolla Ms Shimada left as collateral.
Every day Mr Obiso emails politicians and tries to contact the international police organisation Interpol.
But he says his words fall on deaf ears.
"I have a recovery order granted to me by the Family Court which says I can bring my sons home," he said.
"But no one will help me find them so it's just a piece of paper."
Hug Ur Kids Organisation founder Geoff Day said Mr Obiso wasn't alone.
Mr Day, based in Western Australia, said he was aware of at least 30 Australian parents looking for their children.
Many of the cases can't be discussed due to strict media restrictions on family law and juvenile matters.
Unlike the United States, Australia doesn't have a national database for victims of parental abduction.
As well as Mr Obiso and another Queensland case which can't be discussed, Family Court statistics show there are 11 current cases of missing children believed to be with a parent.
"People whose kids go missing in these sort of circumstances are totally alone," Mr Day said. "When a child isn't returned, a distressed parent calls the police, who refer them to the Family Court, who make them wait weeks."
Parents left in Australia sit out months of legal action. Then, after weeks without their children, they are handed a Recovery Order and left to sort it out.
Mr Day said he received about 300 calls from distraught parents each year; the Federal Government ignored the problem and recent figures on parental abductions were inaccurate.
He said 1000 children suffered parental abductions within Australia each year.
To contact HUKO, visit www.hugurkids.com
http://www.news.com.au/sundaymail/story/0,23739,21022113-3102,00.html
SOURCE: Sunday Mail Newspaper - Queensland
Reported By: Lou Robson
January 06, 2007
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