The Hague, 19 February 2019: The Mediterranean remains the scene of daily tragedies, even if the reduction in the number of migrants reaching Europe has reduced media coverage of these tragedies, the Director-General of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), Kathryne Bomberger, wrote in an opinion piece that appeared in The Times of Malta today.

She noted that, “while fewer refugees have tried to make the journey, fatalities and disappearances have continued. In the first month of 2019, the number was already well into the hundreds,” and she added that refugees and migrants sent back to embarkation ports, many of them in Libya, have routinely been subject to arbitrary detention.

Ms Bomberger highlighted “an urgent need to mobilize existing capacities among European countries such as Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Italy”. She pointed out that all four countries expressed a strong interest during an ICMP meeting held in Rome in June…

Erbil, 17 January 2018: Last month the director of Kirkuk’ Martyrs Directorate welcomed a delegation from the International commission on Missing persons led by Mrs. Caroline Barker Head of Anthropology and Archaeology Division. Mrs. Barker mentioned the role of ICMP in the field of humanitarian cases in general, and what is related to the missing person’s cases caused by military actions and natural disasters.

From his side, the director explained to the delegation about the role of the Martyrs foundation in field of human rights, insisting on missing person’s rights and their families. He also praised their sacrifices in fighting injustice and tyranny that happened to the Iraqi People since the Ba’ath regime took over power and after the fall of the regime back in 2003 and the destruction of the infrastructure by Terrorist groups. He…

7 December 2017 – Today in Belgrade, ICMP convened a regional meeting to present the Database of Active Missing-Persons Cases from the Armed Conflicts in the Former Yugoslavia. The meeting brought together the Board of Directors of the Missing Persons Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina, chairpersons of the commissions on missing persons from Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia, and the Assistant Minister in charge of the Directorate for Detainees and Missing Persons of Croatia.

ICMP’s regional partners in the Western Balkans expressed high praise for the Database and concluded that it will be an invaluable tool in their future work.

Since 1996, ICMP has spearheaded a regional effort that has made it possible to account for 70 percent of the 40,000 people who were missing because of the conflict in the Western Balkans. Nonetheless, there are still approximately 12,000 individuals who remain unaccounted for.

The…

The UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Kurdistan visited the ICMP office in Iraq to discuss a range of issues on their way to Halabja. The group was led by The Right Honourable Alistair Burt MP for North East Bedfordshire, the ICMP’s new commissioner, who has a special interest in the Middle East. Other members of the group included Mr Johnathon Woodcock MP for Barrow in Furness, Lord Maurice Glasman (Baron Glasman) and Ms Emma Grubb, the senior advisor to Nadhim Zahawi, the UK’s first Kurdish-born MP.), as well…