Red Cross: 23,000 people are missing in the Russia-Ukraine conflict
The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that 23,000 people went missing during the Russia-Ukraine conflict , and over the past two years, the Committee has received more than 115,000 requests from families to search for their missing relatives.
During the Russia-Ukraine conflict, 23,000 people went missing. This was reported by the press service of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday, February 19.
According to the message, the ICRC is trying to determine the fate of 23 thousand people whose families have no information about their relatives.
As of the end of January 2024, the committee, in cooperation with the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Ukraine, Russia and other countries, "helped 8,000 families to obtain information about the fate or whereabouts of their missing loved ones."
Over the past two years, the ICRC has received more than 115,000 phone calls, online requests, letters or personal visits from families in Russia and Ukraine looking for missing relatives.
The organization explained that the Bureau of the Central Monitoring Agency, which was established in March 2022, is working with the parties and helping people who are looking for their relatives on both sides of the front.
Acting as a neutral intermediary, the bureau summarizes the information received and transmits it "from one side to the other."
According to the Geneva Conventions, parties must notify the ICRC "of all protected persons within their jurisdiction , and this will significantly reduce the likelihood of their disappearance ," the committee noted .
The ICRC reiterated that the right of families to know the fate of missing loved ones is enshrined in international humanitarian law.
In any international armed conflict, parties have an obligation to prevent people from going missing and to ensure that families searching for their loved ones are informed of what happened to them.
