Migrants: How the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement helps restore family links

Each week, thousands of migrants arrive in and travel through Europe, seeking a better life. Some unfortunately die or disappear on the way. Some lose contact with their loved ones. And back at home, families wonder if their sisters or sons are dead or alive. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement tries to help restore these broken family links. Each year, several National Red Cross Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies meet to discuss how to respond in the best way to this humanitarian issue. This year the meeting was held in Dublin, from 26 to 29 May.

The scale of the humanitarian activities carried out by the Italian Red Cross has soared as massive numbers of vulnerable migrants have arrived. The same is true of other National Red Cross Societies, such as in Greece, Spain, Malta and Bulgaria. Naturally, they were not prepared to face a challenge of this dimension, so the whole International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has been helping them. In 2015, the International Federation allocated around 300,000 euros to both Greece and Italy from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund. And last May, the International Federation also launched an appeal for about 2.7 million euros to assist the Italian Red Cross. The International Committee of the Red Cross has also been helping certain National Societies with their Restoring Family Links programmes.