The new report, Civil legal issues related to the families of the missing in Nepal, commissioned by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), highlights the legal and administrative issues faced by the families of the missing.

The findings point to a number of areas, such as access to social benefits and pensions, and inheritance and property issues as the most pressing unresolved administrative challenges adding to the plight of the families of the missing.

In particular, the report looked into the possibilities of introducing a declaration of absence, as a legal status for missing people – enabling families to exercise their legal rights, without obliging them to accept their relative’s presumed death.

This report was launched in Kathmandu on 9 September, in the presence of government authorities, members of the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, National Human Rights Commission, local families’ and other organisations.

Download the report in Nepali

Also watch:

Nepal: ICRC Continues to Rebuild Lives of the Families of the Missing