JUBA – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has documented an estimated 5,300 cases of missing persons in South Sudan.
This was disclosed in a high-profile round table discussion yesterday on missing persons and proper management of the dead.
The discussion brought together representatives of government bodies, international organizations, NGOs, and families of missing persons.
Nourane Houas, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Protection Coordinator, said what makes addressing the issues of the missing persons difficult is the uncertainty that comes with it.
“The fact that when you’re missing, you don’t know whether the person is alive or dead if the person is thinking of you or has changed life,” she said.
Houas added that sometimes one may not know whether the person has traveled outside the country or not.
She said the ICRC was working hard to clarify the fate of missing individuals, searching for them as well as offering a comprehensive response to the issue.
Houas said they were also ready to help the missing persons who want to be reintegrated with their families.
“The families of the missing [persons] have the right to know what happened to their beloved ones and it is a primary responsibility of the state authorities to provide an answer to the queries of the families of the missing,” she said.
According to the ICRC, the past decades of South Sudan’s history regretfully were marked by violence that led to more than “a million of persons being displaced and thousands going missing’’.
The main triggers
The organization attributed the causes to armed conflicts, inter-communal violence, abductions, natural disasters, forced disappearances, migration, and lack of proper management of the dead.
Peter Mayen Majongdit, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management said the country has gone through several difficulties such as inter-communal conflicts.
“It is not easy, it takes courage and time and it takes efforts to achieve; for those who have already been united with their families, it is not just a day of joy and happiness to give a new life, it comes along with challenges,” he said.
“The challenges to be reintegrated back to their families, when they return, they need serious humanitarian assistance to return to their normal lives,” Mayen added.
Mr. Mayen revealed that they have formed a technical working group of missing persons in the country.
‘‘It is a very important step towards developing a comprehensive mechanism that would ensure coordination,” he said.