Country Summary: Egypt does not adhere to any protocols with respect to international parental child abduction. In 2003, the United States and Egypt signed a Memorandum of Understanding to encourage voluntary resolution of abduction cases and facilitate consular access to abducted children. In 2021, Egypt continued to demonstrate a pattern of noncompliance. Specifically, the competent authorities in Egypt persistently failed to work with the Department of State to resolve abduction cases. As a result of this failure, 85 percent of requests for the return of abducted children remained unresolved for more than 12 months. On average, these cases were unresolved for two years. Egypt was previously cited for demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance in the 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2021 Annual Reports.

Initial Inquiries: In 2021, the Department received two initial inquiries from parents regarding a possible abduction to Egypt for which no additional assistance was requested or necessary documentation was not received as of December 31, 2021.

Central Authority: In 2021, the competent authorities in Egypt worked closely with the United States to discuss ways to improve the resolution of pending abduction cases. However, the competent authorities have failed to resolve cases due to a lack of viable legal options, which contributed to a pattern of noncompliance.

Location: The Department of State did not request assistance with location from the Egyptian authorities.

Judicial Authorities: There is no clear legal procedure for addressing international parental child abduction cases from the United States under Egyptian law and parents face difficulties attempting to resolve custody disputes in the local courts.

Enforcement: The United States is not aware of any abduction cases in which a judicial order relating to international parental child abduction needed to be enforced by the Egyptian authorities.

Department Recommendations: The Department will encourage Egypt to ratify the Convention and create the legal infrastructure needed for effective implementation of the Convention.