The Hague, 21 December 2022: – The eighth meeting of the Data Governance Group (DGG) for Syria took place on 20 and 21 December 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. At the meeting, ICMP and participating Syrian civil society organizations took stock of progress made in collecting data on missing and disappeared persons from 11 years of conflict in Syria, and discussed the way forward in light of policy and institutional developments.  The DGG aims to advance best practice in the field of missing persons data management through the sharing of experience, mutual support and problem solving.

The DGG discussed the UNOHCHR-sponsored initiative to create a specialized mechanism on missing and disappeared persons from the conflict in Syria. It resolved to direct key support towards such a mechanism when it is established. The DGG will in particular further enhance its shared repository of missing persons cases, step-up analytical support for data consolidation, and directly…

Oslobodjenje daily newspaper published an article today by ICMP Commissioner Knut Vollebaek on the 20^th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. “This crime, in its scale and systematic execution, challenged the rule of law not just in a small Bosnian town but far beyond,” Vollebaek wrote. “It is imperative that this anniversary does not pass simply with hand-wringing and expressions of sorrow.” He noted that the perpetrators had “acted as though the law had been neutered” but that while “the process of asserting – or re-asserting – the rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been slow and incomplete, it has continued steadily for almost two decades. It is in the interest of civilized societies everywhere to understand what happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 1995 and why it happened. The law that was cast aside then is the same law from which we seek protection today.” The…

An article by ICMP Commissioner Wim Kok on the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide was published by the BiH news portal klix.ba today. Noting that “the right response to evil is to set a clear course out of the darkness,” Commissioner Kok reviews the steps that have been taken to bring those responsible for the genocide to justice. He concludes that “Each of the simple white headstones that stand in serried rows in the country cemetery outside Srebrenica has a name. Each of the victims has been identified. And with each identification a portion of the killers’ evil intent has been confounded – because one of the objects of the genocide was to erase any trace that these people had ever existed. The intent was to destroy existence and memory. Each identification refutes this.” The full text of Commissioner Kok’s article can be read here http://bit.ly/1Cr3iCZ

ICMP’s Daily World News Digest brings together news stories dealing with enforced disappearances and missing persons cases from around the world. It offers a snapshot of daily events and over a longer period it highlights key trends.

Mediterranean Migration

The Mediterranean migration crisis continued to dominate headlines in June. A new structural aspect emerged amid reports of African migrants dying on the dangerous route across the Sahara, even before they reach the Mediterranean.

Euronews reported on 31 May  that thousands of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean were continuing to arrive in Italian ports, most, reportedly, from Eritrea, where alleged human rights abuses have sparked a refugee exodus. European authorities said that more than 5,000 migrants had been saved from boats in distress since 29 May, and operations were underway to rescue hundreds more. The Greek Reporter news portal reported on 31 May that the Greek coast guard rescued 237 migrants…

ICMP’s Daily World News Digest  brings together news stories dealing with enforced disappearances and missing persons cases from around the world. It offers a snapshot of daily events and over a longer period it highlights key trends.

Southeast Asia

Throughout the month of May, dramatic reports from Southeast Asia highlighted the plight of migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar attempting to reach Malaysia and Indonesia. Tens of thousands have made the journey south, and large numbers have died en route, through drowning or at the hands of people traffickers often with the collusion of corrupt bureaucrats and police. Thousands of Bangladeshi migrants follow the route south and east in search of work. In 2014, the number of people leaving Myanmar and Bangladesh by boat is estimated to have climbed to around 53,000. Some 920 migrants are known to have perished in the Bay of Bengal between September 2014 and…

ICMP’s Daily World News Digest   brings together news stories dealing with enforced disappearances and missing persons cases from around the world. It offers a snapshot of daily events and over a longer period it highlights key trends.

Mediterranean Migration

In April the European Union scrambled to produce a credible and humane response to a series of fatal incidents in the Mediterranean involving migrants seeking refuge from instability in the Middle East and parts of Africa. The EU had faced widespread criticism for what was perceived as its callous indifference to the migration crisis.

On 10 April the BBC reported  an announcement by Medecins Sans Frontieres that it planned to launch a search and rescue mission to save migrants trying to reach Europe by boat. The aid agency said it would operate a 40-meter ship, the MY Phoenix, from May to October. MSF rejected UK government claims that such services encourage…