“It would be hard to exaggerate the toll that the international armed conflict in Ukraine has had on civilians over the last 100 days. The scale of destruction in cities defies comprehension. Homes, schools and hospitals have been destroyed and civilians have suffered the horrors of conflict, with lives lost and families torn apart.

Thousands of them are living with the anguish of not knowing what happened to their loved ones, including relatives of prisoners of war. The parties to the conflict under the Third Geneva Convention must allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit all prisoners of war wherever they are held. While we have been able to visit some prisoners of war, the parties are yet to give us access to them all. And some is not enough.

It’s also important to remember that some regions have suffered not 100 days of armed conflict, but eight years of it, and many people have endured multiple tragedies. Many residents have been forced to flee their homes more than once, rebuilding their lives from scratch each time.”