Four European countries launch initiative for missing migrants
Four European countries will meet in Rome on Monday evening, June 11, to discuss the issue of research and identification of thousands of missing persons on the migratory route of the central Mediterranean.
Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta will launch an initiative in cooperation with ICMP, the International Commission for Missing Persons.
In Italy alone, 8000 bodies were collected in 10 years. This cooperation should make it possible to count the dead, search for the survivors and the bodies of the missing and assist the families. It also aims to promote legal proceedings against smugglers.
The ICMP should provide logistical support to the countries concerned. Explanations from Kathryne Bomberger, Executive Director of the Commission.
“We will ensure that European states, starting with these four, fulfill their legal obligations to the families of the disappeared.”
“Many of these disappearances are related to the activity of criminal networks, there is no doubt,” analysed by Kathryne Bomberger.
She continues, “And so, those responsible must be brought to justice, there must be investigations. Our help could also be on the identification of bodies, but we must first assess the technical and scientific capabilities of the States.”
“Then,” she continues, “we will see how the ICMP can lighten the burden of this responsibility, for example on DNA research and certainly on the development of databases, it will be possible to link the data of different country and contact families in the countries of origin.”
“It is important that international organizations, or even multilateral ones like the EU, help states, because they are overwhelmed.”
“There are two actors in this issue: the migrants and the families of the disappeared who are experiencing terrifying experiences, and on the other, the states that face this situation and who frankly, are also outdated. So everyone needs help.”
