Missing migrants: a model of inter-governmental cooperation

On 11 June, at the initiative of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), representatives from Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Italy will meet in Rome to discuss measures that governments can begin implementing together in order to address the issue of missing migrants more effectively. Writing in “The Hill”, ICMP Chair Thomas Miller notes that “when a model of inter-governmental cooperation is developed in the Mediterranean, it can be applied in other parts of the world where large numbers of people are going missing.” https://bit.ly/2sl3l1A

Human remains found in suspected Kosovo war grave

Balkan Insight carries a statement by the EU spokesperson in Kosovo saying that remains of five people have been found in a suspected mass grave near the town of Gjakova/Djakovica, although their identity and the cause of death has yet to be established. https://bit.ly/2J2nu2M

Mexico: official involvement in enforced disappearances

The UN…

Kosovo: excavations underway in three possible mass gravesites

Kosovo TV reports that the Head of the Kosovo Government’s Missing Persons Commission, Prenk Gjetaj, has announced the resumption of excavations at three possible mass gravesites, after last year’s suspension due to bad weather conditions. He called on the Serbia to cooperate on setting dates for excavations into possible mass graves in Serbia. https://bit.ly/2xlQVLQ

Kashmir: authorities urged to investigate unmarked graves

Human Rights Watch has called on the authorities in India to ensure justice for human rights violations in Kashmir, which includes “following up on the order of the state human rights commission to investigate unmarked graves, which many believe also contain the remains of individuals forcibly disappeared, allegedly by the security forces.” https://bit.ly/2IXqhKt

Venezuela: panel cites cases of enforced disappearance

A panel of experts reporting to the Organization of American States has accused the Venezuelan government under President Nicolas Maduro of committing crimes…

IOM: global migration death toll reaches 1,134

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says it has recovered the remains of a Nigerian woman migrant, aged 21, on the Durance River along the dangerous route from Italy to France that crosses the Alps. The IOM said the body of the Nigerian woman was the second recovered in the area in May. Worldwide, IOM’s Missing Migrants Project has recorded 1,134 people who died or went missing while migrating in 2018. https://bit.ly/2kylswU

Human traffickers fire on refugees in Libya

Fifteen refugees were killed and 25 were injured when human traffickers opened fire on 100 refugees who were trying to escape from a detention camp in the north of the country. BBC Arabic reported on 27 May that the injured refugees receive treatment in Bani Walid Town and seven of them are in critical condition. Many are a still being held by the traffickers (article…

Philippines: almost 2,000 have disappeared since 1972

As many as 1,993 cases of enforced disappearance have been documented in the Philippines since 1972, according to the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances. Under President Rodrigo Duterte, there have been 37 documented cases, most of which are related to the administration’s war on drugs, positioning Philippines as the country that submitted the highest number of cases of enforced disappearances from Southeast Asia. https://bit.ly/2IRNbXI

Fears of “Philippines-style” extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh

A crackdown on alleged drug dealers has left at least 91 people dead in less than two weeks in Bangladesh, sparking fears of a Philippines-style drug war marked by extrajudicial killings. Most of the deaths have occurred in what the Bangladeshi news media have referred to as shoot-outs or gunfights, although the families of several people killed have said they were arrested by police and died in custody, the South China Morning post…

Syria: 900 bodies exhumed from mass graves in Raqqa

A special unit under the Raqqa Reconstruction Committee that was founded after the liberation of the city from Dae’sh, has put much effort into establishing mass graves in the city and exhuming dead bodies. As part of these efforts, 900 bodies have been exhumed from mass graves so far. https://bit.ly/2KSuorP

Over 1,000 migrant children are missing in the US

Almost 1,500 migrant children are unaccounted for after being placed with sponsors by the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a top HHS official’s testimony on Thursday the New York Times reports. There have been problems before with migrant children being handed over to human traffickers, and that concern has been raised with this number of kids missing. https://bit.ly/2s7Xiwk

Pakistan: protest against enforced disappearances intensifies

Activists of human rights organizations, members of civil society and nationalist parties on Thursday took out rallies…

Refugees who go missing trying to reach Europe will not stay unnamed

Malta, Italy, Cyprus and Greece have decided to launch an initiative to identify thousands of refugees who have drowned in the Mediterranean. The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has announced that representatives of these four countries will meet in Rome next month to discuss the details of the initiative. “Cooperation between countries can help to estimate the number of missing — those who have died and those who have survived,” said ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger. (Article in Polish) https://bit.ly/2ILd1ZE

Scores of migrants rescued in the Strait of Gibraltar

Spanish and Moroccan maritime services have rescued more than 250 migrants trying to cross the Strait of Gibraltar this week. Better weather has seen scores of migrant men, women and children risk their lives trying to cross the strait in small boats. https://bit.ly/2IGvyGi

Bosnia is still searching for 7,000 missing…