Austria: Keeping families together
In 2015, more than a million people arrived in Europe after fleeing war and poverty. Austria is a transit country for some and a final destination for others. At one point, more than 10,000 migrants …
Skip to main content
Search results
E-briefing: Principles guiding humanitarian action
The seven "Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement" are the expression of a set of values and experiences distilled from over a century and a half of …
Deceased migrants – giving them back their identities
Many of the migrants making their way to Europe die during the long and perilous journey. We look at the challenges to identifying those who have died, most of whom have drowned, of putting a name on …
Migration in Europe - Video series
As hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants passed through the Balkans and central Europe in 2015 and the early part of 2016, many lost touch with members of their families . These four short …
The World Humanitarian Summit: a game changer or business as usual?
By Yves Daccord, director-general of the ICRC. The real challenge is to turn promises and commitments into meaningful – and measurable – humanitarian actions on the ground. Read full article on …
China: Brave new world--Yunnan economic security project
In April, 2016, we revisited some beneficiaries of ICRC economic security project in Yunnan Province, …
Explosive weapons in populated areas – Humanitarian consequences and legal issues
Interview with the head of the ICRC's arms unit, Kathleen Lawand, on the humanitarian consequences and legal implications of using explosive weapons in populated areas. She emphasizes the need for …
Philippines: Drought-stricken farmers in North Cotabato receive food
Crop failures have left people desperately short of food in conflict-affected areas of North Cotabato Province in the Philippines. The ICRC and the Philippine Red Cross have distributed food to …
Georgia / Abkhazia: Remains returned to families provide relief and dignity
The unresolved issue of missing persons continues to burden Georgian and Abkhaz families and society many years after the end of the 1992–1993 armed conflict in Abkhazia. ICRC records show there are …
Web of violence drags Yemen closer to edge
There have always been wars. But the conflict in Yemen is receiving precious little attention right now. 6,000 people have died in the last 14 months, half of them civilians. Belgian Antoine Grand …
Didn’t find what you were looking for?
Try one of the following resources:
ICRC library
Created in 1863, the ICRC library, alongside the ICRC archives, provides an indispensable documentary reference on the organization itself and international humanitarian law.
IHL treaties
International humanitarian law is based on a number of treaties, in particular the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, and a series of other instruments.
Customary IHL
Customary international humanitarian law consists of rules that come from "a general practice accepted as law" and that exist independent of treaty law.