The ICRC is working to determine the fate of 23,000 people who have been captured, killed or lost contact after fleeing their homes.
The pain of family separation comes with indescribable loss and suffering. Two years after the escalation of the armed conflict, humanitarian needs continue to grow, including those of millions of displaced people inside and outside the two countries.
Not knowing what happened to a loved one is distressing, and it is a tragic reality for tens of thousands of families living in a constant state of suffering. Families have the right to know what happened to their loved ones and to help them if possible. Dusan Vuyasanin, head of the ICRC's Tracing Agency for the International Armed Conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine (CTA-B), said.
As of January 2024, the ICRC, in cooperation with Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere, has helped 8,000 families find out the fate or whereabouts of their missing loved ones.
Over the past two years, the ICRC has received more than 115,000**, online requests, letters or face-to-face visits from Russia and Ukraine to find missing relatives.
We have helped thousands of lost relatives communicate with their loved ones or learn more about the fate of their loved ones, but there are still many who have not heard from them. We are trying to help more families every day," said Mr. Vujasanen.
CTA-B was established in March 2022 to work with all parties to the conflict and support families on both sides of the frontline in finding their loved ones.
Under the Geneva Conventions, both the Russian and Ukrainian authorities have established the National Information Bureau (NIB), which is responsible for collecting, centralizing, and transmitting information on protected persons in their hands, such as prisoners of war or civilian detainees.
As a neutral intermediary between Russia and Ukraine, the CTA-B collects, centralizes, secures, and transmits this information from one side to the other. The Geneva Conventions require parties to notify the ICRC of all protected persons in their possession, a move that would significantly reduce the likelihood of their disappearance.
"The match between the family's tracing request and the information received by the National Intelligence Agency means the end of months of uncertainty about the fate of loved ones," said Mr. Voujasanen. ”
The ICRC works closely with Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement partners in some 50 countries to provide answers to the families of missing persons or prisoners of war. It also assists parties to international armed conflicts in meeting their legal obligations relating to the recovery, identification, transfer and repatriation of human remains, including the role of a neutral mediator when required.
International humanitarian law upholds the right of families to know the fate and whereabouts of their missing loved ones. All parties to an international armed conflict have an obligation to prevent persons from going missing and to ensure that their relatives are aware of their fate. Persons held by a party to the conflict must be treated humanely and the dead must be dealt with with dignity.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization whose dedicated humanitarian mission derives from the 1949 Geneva Conventions. It does everything it can to help people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, often with Red Cross and Red Crescent partners, to protect their lives and dignity and alleviate their suffering.