Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) volunteers assist Zeynab, a Somali returnee, establish contact with her missing husband. Picture was taken in Bossasso last year at the height of the Yemeni conflict.. Photo: ICRC/Miraj Mohamud

Sunday, 15th May, marks the International Day of Families. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works with partners within the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement to locate people separated by conflicts, disasters or migration and put them back into contact with their relatives. This includes ensuring families know the fate of their missing loved ones.

The Restoring Family Links (RFL) program has evolved over the years from exchanging simple Red Cross Messages (RCM) between families to include phone calls and more recently using online platforms. Aided by technology, this vital service can now meet the growing demands of a world grappling with an unprecedented migration crisis.

‘Trace the face’ is an online tool created by several European Red Cross National Societies to help migrants locate their missing family members. A person searching for a loved one can post their picture on the website. The platform is also present on Facebook and posters of the images are placed in centres for migrants.

The online service eliminates geographical limitations migrants are likely to face when seeking to reestablish contact with their families. In Somalia, what has worked well over the years is a daily radio program which broadcasts names of the missing persons on BBC Somalia Service.

The ICRC, working closely with the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS), has been offering tracing services in Somalia since 1991. Last year during the height of the Yemeni conflict, the service was extended to those fleeing the conflict.

A tracing request document received at the Kismayo Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) office. Photo: ICRC/Abdikarim Mohamed

Between January and March this year, over 3,000 RCMs have been exchanged and 91 people have successfully been located. More than 150 tracing requests have been received during the same period and close to 1,300 names of missing persons published on the ICRC‘s family links website.