Reuniting families in the fallout of tragedy

by Nicole Batch, Head of Migration Development, Australian Red Cross

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world are missing today. Tragically, countless of them never return or are heard from again.

Many of those who become separated from their loved ones are caught in the chaos of armed conflict, violence or disaster. In a matter of minutes, families can become separated. For some, it can take years to find out the fate of their children, spouses, parents or other family members. Others are never reunited at all.

Data from the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement suggests the issue of missing persons is on the rise. The number of new cases opened by the Movement’s Restoring Family Links program, which helps people find family members who are missing due to conflict, disaster or migration, increased in recent years by almost 20 per cent from 2022 to 2023. By the end of 2023, more than 239,700 missing persons all around the world were registered by the Family Links Network. This figure only scratches the surface of the true reality of the number of missing persons.

The impact on families and communities

Going missing is not just a tragedy for the person whose whereabouts become unknown. Behind every missing person is a whole family and community suffering. The anguish and uncertainty of not knowing the fate and whereabouts of a loved one is profound and can have severe consequences on one’s health and wellbeing.

Here in Australia, one might wonder how someone can go missing in this 24/7 hyperconnected digital age. Social media and evening news programs give us what feels like a front-row view of many of the world’s worst tragedies, and the idea that everything is being documented and shared with the wider world. But we know that for everyday people who are caught in disaster zones, reliable access to forms of communication is not guaranteed.

The vulnerability of migrants and refugees

Migrants and refugees are especially vulnerable to going missing. Many need to flee at short notice and the chaos that follows means people can often only take what they can carry. In these circumstances, it’s easy to forget to take something or to lose possessions in transit. Too often, families are not physically together in the moment they have to leave, meaning from day one they’re already separated.

Imagine being without your identity documents, with no phone and in a different country. It’s easy to see how families become separated and struggle to find one another. For many, it takes years to learn the fate of their loved ones— tragically, some are never reunited.

A global response: Restoring Family Links

Every year, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), along with National Red Cross Societies around the world including Australian Red Cross, work tirelessly to account for, restore contact between, trace, and reunite thousands of family members who have lost touch or gone missing through the Restoring Family Links program.

Last year, the Network located more than 16,600 individuals and reunited nearly 7,900 people with their families. Nearly 137,800 Red Cross letters were transmitted and over two million telephone calls were facilitated to reconnect separated families. In fact, every minute, the Restoring Family Links global network helps four families separated by conflict, violence, migration or disasters call each other.

Closer to home, Australian Red Cross has been offering the Restoring Family Links service since 1915, back then working as part of the international network to undertake searches for those who were missing in the fallout of WWI, and to support the families left behind.

A growing challenge

With the number of armed conflicts and other situations of violence at a record high in the post-WWII era, as well as situations of forced migration, tragically the number of missing persons is likely to increase. As well as the Restoring Family Links program, in times of conflict the International Committee of the Red Cross engages all parties to a conflict to uphold their obligations under International Humanitarian Law to enable the Red Cross to undertake its impartial and neutral humanitarian role. The issue of missing persons is devastating and has long-lasting humanitarian consequences.

Long after the guns fall silent, the impact of conflict and crises can last for many more years. While physically out of harm's way, there are people all around the world, including in Australia, who live with the difficult reality of not knowing where their relatives are.

Families have the need, and the right, to know what has happened to their loved ones. Australian Red Cross stands in solidarity with the families of missing persons. We want the families of missing persons to know that they are not alone, that they are not forgotten, and that we will continue to do our outmost to help them obtain the answers and support they seek.