The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed receiving 16,100 requests to trace missing persons since 1990, in a statement issued following the conclusion of ICRC Director of Operations Dominik Stillhart's five-day visit to Sri Lanka.
Mr Stillhart, who met with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on his trip, said "the ICRC’s experience from its work with families of missing persons in other countries is that their needs are multifaceted".
"Their priority is the need to know the fate and whereabouts of a missing relative, without which they have no closure and a mechanism which is distinct from an accountability process is required to address this need,” he added. “But they also have other needs such as psychosocial and economic support and administrative or legal concerns arising from having to resolve pension or property rights."
The ICRC spokesperson continued to state that when an “island wide assessment” that was launched in October last year is complete, “a report with its findings will be prepared and shared confidentially with the government to help it to draw up a response to what these families need”.
“The ICRC will support the government in these endeavours,” added the statement.
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