Some 811 people are still missing as a result of the conflict in Donbas, Head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine (ICRC) Florence Gillette said.
“Seven years have passed since the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Cross Society in Ukraine started to receive inquiries from families whose relatives went missing as a result of the conflict in Donbas. Today 811 people are still missing,” Gillette said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.
In turn, President of the Red Cross Society of Ukraine Mykola Polischuk said that since the beginning of the armed conflict in Ukraine, a total of 928 citizens have applied to the Red Cross Society of Ukraine to search for their relatives.
“Some 892 search cases were initiated, work on 701 cases was completed, including 154 due to the release and reunification of families, some 115 due to the death and burial of a family. In 158 cases, it was possible to restore contact with relatives in the territory not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities with the help of volunteers and employees of Luhansk and Donetsk regional organizations of the Red Cross Society of Ukraine,” he said.
Polischuk said that as of August 27, 2021, the work of the Society’s tracing service in 181 cases continues, the fate of family members has not yet been established.
Head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine Gillette drew attention to the fact that on Monday, September 6, three years, one month, and four days have passed since the Law of Ukraine on the legal status of missing persons came into force. However, the Commission on Missing Persons did not start working.
“Discussions about a single register are not moving forward, and the mechanism by which families can present and receive the promised benefits is not defined. Overall, progress in implementing the law has largely stalled,” Gillette said.
She said the ICRC supports the Ukrainian authorities in developing a legal framework for the search for missing persons and will continue this activity, providing technical and legal advisory services to mediate between the parties to the conflict.
“It is also very important that the Ukrainian authorities speed up the search process. We understand that there are legal disputes that make the provision of resources to the commission a big problem. Perhaps the law should be amended. This should be done quickly so that the commission becomes functional in the near future,” Gillette said.
The delegation’s head said that care should be taken to create a unified register and determine how family members of missing persons can receive social and other benefits referred to in the Law on the legal status of missing persons.
