The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says that the authorities, community and society should acknowledge at large that when people go missing, it causes anguish and uncertainty for their families who continue to live in a state of ambiguity, not knowing whether their loved one is alive or dead.

Issuing a statement on the International Day of the Disappeared, which falls on August 30, the ICRC mentions that for many families of missing persons, knowing what has happened to their relatives is the most pressing need.

In most situations, the missing person is often the breadwinner of the family, and their absence exacerbates the economic, legal and administrative challenges of families who struggle with the multiple consequences that they are faced with, it added.

The ICRC which expresses that time does not heal, and only the answers do, further emphasizes that people have the right to know what happened to their missing relatives and authorities have an obligation to provide information and assist efforts to ascertain the fate and whereabouts of missing persons.

“This is enshrined in international humanitarian law, which also requires parties to a conflict to take measures to ensure that people do not go missing in an armed conflict”, the statement highlighted.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross claims that increased and continuous efforts are needed to search for missing persons and to provide individualized answers on their fate and whereabouts to their families.

“These include, amongst many others, the strengthening of national frameworks and systems, including medico-legal ones; putting in place or improving existing processes and mechanisms dedicated to establishing the fate and whereabouts of missing persons; and the collection and processing of information on missing persons and the events in which they went missing, as well as on human remains and possible human remains sites”, it said.

The ICRC, which mentions that Sri Lanka has not been spared from this humanitarian tragedy, also pointed out that in 2023, thousands of families of missing persons from all communities across the country continue to suffer due to the uncertainty surrounding the fate of their missing loved ones. 

It further stated that “it is important that they receive answers on the fate and whereabouts of their missing relatives, adding that “while every effort must be made to establish the fate of missing persons, their relatives must also be enabled to live in dignity”.

In Sri Lanka, the ICRC implements an island-wide support programme that addresses the emotional, economic, legal and administrative needs of families of missing persons. Concurrently, the ICRC has been working with authorities and relevant stakeholders to build their capacities to address the multifaceted needs of families, including their need to know.

In addition, the ICRC stands ready to continue sharing its global expertise with relevant stakeholders in Sri Lanka, in order to contribute to the process of clarifying the fate and whereabouts of missing persons, in accordance with its humanitarian mandate.

Last week, the Office of the Missing Persons in Sri Lanka asserted that justice will be served for the families of Sri Lanka’s missing persons within a period of 06 months.

There, the Chairman of the Office on Missing Persons, Attorney-at-Law Mahesh Katulanda emphasized that they have fast-tracked the tracing mechanism with regard to the missing persons and that the process is being carried out transparently.

However, Katulanda expressed that the Office on Missing Persons will end the preliminary investigations of the first phase regarding the missing individuals before December, adding that once the investigations of the first phase are completed, the relatives of the missing persons who are willing to obtain the missing persons’ certificates [“Certificates of absence for missing persons’ relatives”] or death certificates will be provided with the relevant certificates.

He further asserted that those relatives, who are willing to obtain revival payments, will accordingly receive the relevant payments through the Office for Reparations, based on recommendations by the Office on Missing Persons.

Katulanda also highlighted the mechanism of the Office on Missing Persons includes supporting the rebuilding of the economy of any family that has been broken down due to missing persons.