Ukraine is failing foreign fathers

[JayH]

From time to time -- and recently -there have been numerous threads relating to this topic.
This article gives a grim snapshot of the reality in Ukraine.The very sad reality.



Ukraine is failing foreign fathers

In 2013, the German native’s Ukrainian wife took their first son on a trip to Ukraine. She never returned. At the time, she was pregnant with their second son.

Jung has spent over six years fighting to have a relationship with his children. Under the best conditions, he was allowed to see them for six hours per month in his ex-wife’s presence. Under the worst, he went years without seeing them.

“No one ever accused me of being a bad father,” Jung told the Kyiv Post. However, “she denies me access, she denies my (child) support, and she has quiet support from the Soviet-minded authorities.”

Jung is far from alone. In Ukraine, thousands of fathers say that their former partners have prevented them from being part of their children’s lives, according to lawyers who have represented such disputes. The fathers find themselves tangled up years of court hearings.

But while Ukraine’s confusing legal system and byzantine bureaucracy are confusing for anyone, they are especially mystifying for foreign fathers who often don’t know the language.

Even when courts rule in their favor, it hardly helps. Legal experts say Ukraine has a longstanding problem with failing to enforce court decisions — particularly in custody battles, child abduction cases, and cases that blur the line between the two. The culprits are the country’s weak judiciary, ineffective police, and biased local government committees.


http://www.kyivpost.com/lifestyle/how-ukraine-is-failing-foreign-fathers.html?fbclid=IwAR3r8V33-mNtOWZjE8622E_BTPw25nP9sXyHnnzYA9H_v2qDL7k-iLF7m0Y