The International Committee of the Red Cross office in Armenia has issued a statement and a video: “Today is the International Day of the Disappeared, which commemorates the hundreds of thousands of people who have gone missing as a result of armed conflict, violence, migration and natural disasters. We express our solidarity with the families of the missing and together remember their missing loved ones.
In this region, thousands of people have gone missing in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Thousands of families continue to suffer, unaware of the fate of their loved ones. This constant uncertainty emotionally exhausts families, leaving unhealed wounds. Families live in the darkness of uncertainty, on the brink of hope and despair, unable to reconcile or mourn.
“I don’t know where my son is, I don’t know if he is alive… I don’t know anything,” says Haykanush Manukyan, whose son went missing in the autumn of 2020 following the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “I ask all organizations, everyone. If you can help in any way, learn any information, do not be indifferent, do something.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) provides its expertise to support the relevant authorities in clarifying the fate of missing persons and providing answers to families. We cooperate with interested government structures throughout the region, offering our technical expert support. Through the ICRC delegation in Armenia, we also share the experience accumulated by the ICRC in other countries of the world in support of the efforts of the Armenian authorities.
“We want the families of the missing to know that their loved ones have not been forgotten. You are not alone, and we will continue to support the authorities in taking all possible measures to provide answers to families. Families have the right to know what happened to their loved ones, and it is the duty of the authorities to protect that right,” said ICRC Director-General Robert Mardini.
