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ARCHIVE - The two brothers, aged four and five, abandoned in Portugal by their mother and stepfather are back in France and living with family members. Photo: Armando Franca/AP/dpa (archive photo)
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The two children from Colmar who were abandoned in Portugal have returned to France and have been handed over to relatives there. According to French media, the Colmar public prosecutor's office announced that the handover had taken place "under conditions that guarantee their safety".
The two boys arrived back in France on Friday, it said. The public prosecutor also stated that no further information on the care of the children would be made public.
The brothers were found crying by a driver on the side of the national road between Alcácer do Sal and the seaside resort of Comporta, around one hundred kilometers south of Lisbon, on 19 May. The mother and her partner were arrested two days later near Fátima in the center of the country.
The French authorities had been searching for the mother and children since May 11 after the father reported their disappearance in Colmar. The Portuguese authorities explained that the children had usually lived with their mother; the father had only had limited and supervised access rights.
The mother, a 41-year-old French woman, was remanded in custody by the Portuguese justice system and charged with "endangerment or abandonment", as was her partner, a 55-year-old Frenchman, who is also accused of "grievous bodily harm" to one of the two boys.
30.05.2026, 15:44
