by International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, July 26, 2016
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/sri-lanka-families-missing-persons
Years that have passed since the armed conflict in Sri Lanka ended in 2009, did not bring solace to the families of over 16,000 persons who, according to the ICRC’s records, remain missing.
Between October 2014 and November 2015, conducting an island-wide assessment, the ICRC met 395 families of missing persons, including those of missing security forces and police personnel, along with the authorities and organisations providing assistance to these victims.
According to the findings of the Families’ Needs Assessment, to know the fate and whereabouts of their missing relative is the most important of the many needs these families have, and, in anticipation of the answers, the families face emotional, economic, legal and administrative difficulties in their daily lives.
While the aim of the assessment was to understand the needs of families of persons who went missing as a consequence of the past armed conflict and to identify means to help address these needs, the ICRC hopes that the findings and recommendations contained in the assessment report will contribute to the development of a comprehensive response to the needs of all missing persons’ families, who continue to suffer in silence.