Captured, killed, separated... The Office of the Central Tracing Agency (CRA) of the International Committee of the Red Cross announced on Monday that it was investigating the disappearance of 23,000 people from both sides in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“Being without news from a loved one is a real torture, a constant anguish.
Tens of thousands of families are faced with this tragic reality.
They have the right to know what happened to their loved ones and, when possible, to exchange news with them,” underlined Dusan Vujasanin, Head of the ACR Office.
And the observation is terrible: “Over the last two years, the ICRC has received more than 115,000 tracing requests from families in Ukraine and Russia, by telephone, via its online platforms, by mail or during face-to-face interviews,” the institution said.
8,000 families received information
“As of January 31, 2024, the ICRC, with the assistance of several National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere, has helped 8,000 families to obtain information on the fate of their loved ones or where they were,” adds this press release, citing testimonies from families who eventually received news of their loved ones.
However, the task is still gigantic with the search for 23,000 people.
The ACR Office for the Russia-Ukraine Conflict is the first ICRC office set up specifically for an international conflict in over 30 years.
This mission is the most important since the Second World War.
In accordance with the Geneva Conventions, the two countries have each established a national information bureau (BNR) responsible for collecting, centralizing and transmitting information relating to protected persons
(such as prisoners of war and civilian internees)
who are between their hands, explained the ICRC.
Acting as a neutral intermediary between Russia and Ukraine, the ACR Office collects, centralizes and records this information, then transmits it to the relevant side, the institution added.
Parties to an international conflict are “required to treat people under their control with humanity and to ensure that the dead are cared for in a dignified manner”, the ICRC also underlined.