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Rise in global family disputes
A new report has revealed a dramatic rise in cross-border family legal disputes referred to a UK judge who offers global assistance in such cases.
Live updates
Mother: It doesn't get any better, I stay strong for her
Nearly one in three babies in England and Wales have a foreign-born parent, which has led to a ten-fold increase in cross-border child custody and abduction cases in the past a decade.
Six-year-old Elsa Salama is one of those cases, she was snatched from a holiday apartment in Sharm El Sheikh were she had been visiting her Egyptian father's family.
Her mother Naomi has had no information of her daughter's whereabouts and does now know whether Elsa is alive and well.
Speaking to Daybreak she said: "It doesn't get any better, each day is just as hard, and I focus on the future, and I focus on trying to find her and bringing her home and bringing her home to what she remembers, so I stay strong for her."
Largest number of cross-border cases relate to Poland
The head of the authority that deals with cross-border legal disputes, Lord Justice Thorpe, has said that the largest number of cases relate to Poland, followed by Pakistan and Spain.
He said that co-operation between countries on family law was needed due to "increasing movement of persons across borders, and the ever rising number of family units which are truly international".
Lord Justice Thorpe's office acts as a help desk for judges and lawyers at home and abroad who have seen their cases stalled and delayed because two countries' legal systems are involved.
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Rise is due to increase in cases and greater awareness
The latest report from the Office of the Head of International Family Justice for England and Wales has found a steep increase in the number of cross-border disputes between parents over child custody.
Edward Bennett, a lawyer at the Office, said the rise was down to two factors:
Increase in legal rows between cross-border parents
The number of legal rows between parents living in different countries, in which a British judge has to step in, has surged by 40% in the last year, a report showed today.
The number of cases being handled by the Office of the Head of International Family Justice for England and Wales has risen from three in 2005 to 253 in 2012.
The Office is called upon to help with international family disputes including some kidnapping and child custody cases.