In Abouelmagd, v. Semeniuk, 2025 WL 3042413 (United States District Court, E.D. New York, 2025) Amr Abdelrahman Abouelmagd (“Petitioner”), petitioned the Court for the return of his three children, Y.A., M.A., and A.A., to Canada Petitioner asserted that the Children had beenwrongfully retained in the United States by their mother, respondent Tetiana Semeniuk (“Respondent”), a citizen of Ukraine, who currently resided in New York. The district Court found that: (1) the Children were habitual residents of Canada and had been retained in the United States; (2) the retention was in breach of Petitioner’s custody rights; and (3) Petitioner was exercising his rights at the time of the retention. The Court further found that Respondent failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence the affirmative defenses that the Children were well settled or that Petitioner consented to the retention. Petitioner also failed to show by clear and convincing evidence the affirmative defenses that return to Canada would put the Children at grave risk or would be barred by the United States’ fundamental principles relating to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Accordingly, the petition for return of the Children to Canada was granted.
