UmHani: Preventing and Surviving International Child Abduction

UmHani: Helping Parents Prevent and Survive International Child Abduction

I am Kristine Uhlman, and I first made national and international headlines in 1981, when I fled the Middle East and a violent husband and returned to the United States with my two children, 2-year old Hani and 3-year old Maisoon. Within months, my children were professionally abducted. In an effort to return to my children, I became the first American woman to be imprisoned in a Saudi Arabian prison, as well as the first to litigate for access to my children in the Islamic, Shari’a’ Court.

Risk Assessment and Remedy

The risk of abduction cannot be quantified; it can only be understood as a permanent act that cannot be undone. Abduction of a minor child from the United States to the Middle East occurs at an average of one child per week; return of an abducted child to the United States through the Islamic legal process has never been achieved. Risk is a function of likelihood and remedy—there is no legal remedy other than prevention.

If you are fearful for your children's safety or if your children have already been kidnapped to an Islamic country, we can network with other parents in the same situation. I work with my son, Hani Ukayli, to prevent future abductions – we are UmHani.