The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced Monday that it was trying to
“shed light on the fate of 23,000 people who disappeared”
during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“Opened in March 2022, the Office of the Central Tracing Agency (CTA) of the ICRC for the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine”
is dedicated to the search for missing people from both sides in this conflict,
“which "They were captured, killed or separated from their loved ones"
following the fighting, the ICRC said in a statement.
To discover
Follow information on the war in Ukraine with the Figaro application
“Being without news from a loved one is a real torment, 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.
“Over the past two years, the ICRC has received more than 115,000 tracing requests from families in Ukraine and Russia, by telephone, through its online platforms, by mail or during face-to-face interviews. -face”
, indicated the institution.
“As of January 31, 2024, the ICRC, with the assistance of several National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere - had helped 8,000 families obtain information on the fate of their loved ones or where they were located
,” according to the press release.
Most important mission since World War II
The statement cited testimonies from families who eventually received news of their loved ones.
“I am so happy to know that my son is alive.
I hadn't heard from him in about two months.
I was like dead during this period
,” a mother told the ICRC.
The ACR Office has
“enabled thousands of people to reconnect with a loved one of whom they had lost track or to obtain information on what had happened to them
,” said Dusan Vujasanin.
“But so many others are still waiting and uncertain
,” he stressed.
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 stressed.