On 17 May, the ICRC convened a panel discussion at the Humanitarium to discuss humanitarian issues around missing migrants and their families: What are their needs? What are the challenges? How to address these issues? The panel comprised a variety of actors from governments, International Organization for Migration and International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
The event formed part of the 2018 Global Research and Debate Cycle on Migration and Displacement.
Background
Every day around the world, an alarming number of migrants go missing. Addressing the needs of missing migrants and their families is a global challenge, which requires concerted action at transnational level. The discussion will explore how to minimize the risk of migrants going missing, how to support families searching for their missing relatives, and how to treat the dead and their families with dignity. It builds on the ICRC's Missing migrants policy paper, which outlines 13 key recommendations that can help States prevent migrants from going missing, search for them and support families throughout the process, based on the long-standing work of the ICRC on behalf of missing persons and their families.