(Adnkronos) – One-year-old Ethan Nichols is due to return to Italy on Wednesday after his father abducted him last August in the southern Puglia region aged seven months and took him to the United States, the foreign ministry announced.
“I am pleased that little Ethan can finally return home,” commented Minister Tajani, highlighting the Italian government’s constant commitment to protecting Italian nationals abroad, especially minors, said a foreign ministry statement.
“I have personally followed this case from the beginning, and I am delighted with this important result, which is the outcome of effective teamwork between the Italian institutions involved, as well as the prompt and decisive action of the American authorities,” Tajani said.
Right from when Ethan’s father used a ruse to take him from his Italian mother, Claudia Ciampa, on 30 August during a family holiday, Tajani ordered the foreign ministry to take rapid action to locate the baby through Italy’s network of consulates in the US and the embassy in Washington, working alongside US authorities, said the statement.
Ethan was located in California by police on 19 November police and reunited with his mother in the US. A legal battle for custody of Ethan followed in Los Angeles between Ciampa and Nicols, who is her ex-partner.
On 18 February, US judges ordered Ethan’s return home – five days after his 1st birthday on 13 February.
The Consulate General in Los Angeles, which has territorial jurisdiction, closely followed the case, raising awareness among local authorities about the importance of reaching a positive resolution and providing support to both the mother and the child, the statement noted.
Ethan’s repatriation from the US was also addressed by the Task Force on Contested Minors, an inter-ministerial working group chaired by Italy’s foreign ministry “which ensures a coordinated government response to the delicate and complex issue of Italian children unlawfully taken abroad,” the statement concluded.
