Azernews.Az

BAKU – Families of persons missing in connection with the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabakh conflict gathered on Friday in Baku, Sumgayit and smaller Azerbaijani cities to commemorate the International Day of the Disappeared (30 August) together with representatives of the local authorities, the Red Crescent Society of Azerbaijan, non-governmental organizations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), according to the ICRC’s Baku office.

On this occasion, the ICRC is calling on the international community to renew its commitment to addressing the plight of missing persons and their families.

"All over the world, parents, siblings, spouses and children are desperately trying to find out what happened to lost relatives," said Cherine Pollini, head of the ICRC delegation in Azerbaijan. "Families and entire communities, not knowing whether their members are alive or dead, are unable to put the violent events that have disrupted their lives behind them. There is no word that can reassure them, no word that can soothe their pain."

More than 17 years after the signing of the ceasefire agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, over 4,500 people are still missing as a result of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict. More than 3,500 families of missing persons live in Azerbaijan. To help identify the missing, ante-mortem data have been collected from the families. This process has almost been completed. The data are now being forwarded to the State Commission on PoWs, missing persons and hostages for entry into a database.

To help families of missing coping with their problems and to better respond to their specific needs the ICRC initiated a psychosocial program. Within this program, the psycho-social needs of families of missing are addressed by local psychologists and social workers (trained by the ICRC) who are facilitating group gatherings and conducting home visits to more vulnerable/isolated family members.

The ICRC is working together with the Azerbaijani authorities to set up mechanisms to help determine what befell the people who went missing. The ICRC's role, based on the mandate conferred on it by the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, is purely humanitarian: to help the families find out what happened to their missing loved ones.