Title: Ex wants to take our child abroad. I am not comfortable with the location they have chosen.
I am NOT OP. OP is u/own-county-569 and thank you to Reddit user u/sharkeva for putting this together
Originally Posted to: Reddit’s r/legaladviceuk Jul 26, 2026**
Trigger Warning
Possible child abduction
Original Post: Jul 26, 2026
Ex wants to take our child abroad with their new partner. Child is 11.
I have never objected to any holidays preciously, but the locations involved in this holiday are making me extremely concerned as a parent.
Am I able to block our child from leaving?
I currently have her passport, but my ex and her new partner are demanding I turn it over on Tuesday evening. I do not wish to do so unless the holiday locations are changed to somewhere in Europe or another MEDC.
Relevant Comments:
Commenter 1: Where do they want to take them? You would extremely convincing grounds that it is not in the child’s best interest for the courts to stop it.
Are there any court orders in place already?
OP’s Response:
They’ll be flying to Pakistan.
My concerns are twogold. Firstly about the ongoing war and border skirmishes with Taliban
The place they are visiting is his home city which is near the Afghan border.
Secondly I’m also concerned about my daughter’s general safety there.
I wouldnt mind if they went to USA, Canada, New Zealand, China, EU, Japan etc.
I just don’t want them going to somewhere unstable and potentially dangerous. I’d also object to Ukraine etc.
Commenter 2: Hi OP as a person of South Asian descent I implore u to not let your daughter go to Pakistan. Your daughter and your ex are not of Pakistani origin, do not have any family based there and have no support system there whatsoever if anything goes wrong. There is no valid reason for your daughter to be going. (Same goes for your ex as this isn’t a holiday resort like destination) I assume your ex’s partner is Pakistani or is of Pakistani origin. Do you actually know anything about him? What’s the purpose of the visit? If your ex getting married to her partner?
FCDO advises against travelling https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/pakistan
Next the area your ex and her current partner is next to Afghanistan and not considered a safe place to be. Your daughter and your ex run the risk of getting kidnapped/held to ransom/being sold into slavery/be victim to forced child marriage.
Also if exs new partner decides they are all staying there(even if it’s against your ex’s wishes there is little that anyone can do)
Do not hand over the passport. Please contact the passport advice line. Speak to your MP. I implore you not to relent on this as your daughters safety is on the line.
Update: Jul 26, 2026
6 Hours Later
I’ve hidden the passport at a secure location. I’ll alert the Home Office on Monday, and I won’t be returning my daughter to my ex on Tuesday. Police are investigating.
Thank you for your advice.
Flights to Pakistan were booked for 2nd August.
I’ve put my foot down and explained that she will not be going.
I’ve hidden the passport at a secure location which isn’t my home. I’ll alert the Home Office on Monday morning to avoid issuing any kind of new passports.
Separately, I have spoken with my daughter. A couple of other issues have emerged including someone who my ex’s partner has been having my daughter chat to online who lives in Pakistan. She said he wanted her to make a friend before she visited. He claims to be 12 in the messages, but there are only large group photos and I cannot verify he is actually a child.
She will not be returned to this man or my ex. Police were contacted on 101 and an officer and a sergeant came out very promptly. They asked to takr my daughter’s phone as evidence, which I agreed to.
I’d like to send a massive thank you to everyone who provided advice.
I’d also like to thank the eight Pakistani women and women of Pakistani heritage who reached out to me to provide cruical context beyond the legal answers. Some of the stories of what you went through were gutwrenching. I appreciate the linking to Karma Nirvana as well, although we do not require their assistance as of yet.
A couple of you also provided me some excellent help and advice and also assisted with the translation of some posts on the social media account of this mysterious “boy” in Pakistan. You helped point out some red flags which I appreciate.
You have all been invaluable. Every single one of you.
Thank you.
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