Contact
Menu
Contact

Report on – 33rd IC Resolution 4: Restoring Family Links while respecting privacy, including as it relates to personal data protection (33IC/19/R4) – Swedish Red Cross

Statutory Meetings / 33rd IC Resolution Report / 33rd International Conference / Report on – 33rd IC Resolution 4: Restoring Family Links while respecting privacy, including as it relates to personal data protection (33IC/19/R4) – Swedish Red Cross

  1. Has your State/National Society/Institution incorporated the commitments contained in this resolution into the relevant strategic or operational plans?

    Yes

    The commitments are incorporated into:
    Strategy
    Policy
    Operational plan

    At the National level

    Explanation:

    The spirit of the resolution is incorporated in the National Society Strategy.
    The three-year National RFL Strategy includes concrete elements aimed at applying the resolution.
    The National Advocacy Strategy included one objective on accessing personal data from concerned authorities for humanitarian purposes.
    The RFL Code of Conduct is implemented in internal procedures on processing and protecting personal data.

  2. Has your State/National Society/Institution been working with other partners to implement the commitments contained in this resolution?

    Yes

    Partner with:
    Government and/or public authorities
    ICRC/IFRC
    Other National Red Cross or Red Crescent Societies

    Examples of cooperation:

    Over the years, the Swedish Red Cross (SRC) has brought the issue of data protection to the attention of the leadership of the Swedish Migration Agency (SMA) through its regular humanitarian diplomacy, reminding the authority that the SRC has no obligation neither to initiate a tracing request upon request by a third party, nor to provide any information to a third party, in order to be able to fulfil its mandate of meeting the needs and rights of all, without discrimination. The SRC also stressed that the organization only processes personal data for strictly humanitarian purposes. This standing was further strengthened with the adoption of this resolution and the constructive dialogue continued and resulted in a MoU between the SRC and the SMA, with an ambition of exploring the possibility to get direct access to contact details to asylum seekers in their database and reaching a common understanding of SRC’s RFL mandate and activities. Activities such as establishing common procedures for SRC requesting personal data and for the SMA providing such data. To increase the understanding of the SMA regarding the humanitarian mandate of the Movement, information material, including a short film, was developed. In addition, regular meetings to follow-up the MoU have been set up.

    In 2023 a dialogue with the Swedish Tax Agency, managing civil registration of private individuals, was initiated with the purpose of exploring the possibility to get direct access to the population register.

    Based on the “spirit” of the resolution, the dialogue with the Swedish Police Authority regarding the search and identification of missing migrants at sea has been strengthened

    Exchanges with other national societies and ICRC on this topic have taken place.

  3. Have you encountered any challenges in implementing the commitments contained in this resolution?

    Yes

    With challenges on:
    Lack of capacity and/or support (technical, financial, or other)

    Details about challenges:

    While no major challenges have been encountered, technical challenges mean that measures taken by the Swedish Migration Authorities and the Swedish Tax Authority to facilitate access, take time to implement.

  4. Have the commitments contained in this resolution had an impact on the work and direction of your State/National Society/Institution?

    Yes

    Type of Impact:
    Cooperation between Government/public authorities and National Society has been strengthened
    Programming and operations have become more effective and efficient
    Innovative tools/methodologies have been developed and are utilized
    Other

    Details about the impact:

    Dialogue with Swedish Migration Agency, Ministry of Justice and Swedish Police Authorities has improved.
    The concerned authorities’ general understanding of the RFL-service and its humanitarian mandate has improved, case management procedures in terms of asking for and receiving personal data has become more efficient.
    Internal data protection procedures have been improved and updated as a consequence of the implementation of the RFL Code of Conduct globally.

  5. Have the commitments contained in this resolution had an impact on the communities that your State/National Society/Institution serves?

    Yes

    Description of the impact:

    The case handling time has shortened as a consequence of the improved dialogue with the Swedish Migration Authorities and, in turn, benefits the affected population in search for their missing loved ones.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, in its function as Trustee of the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (the Conference), cannot be held responsible or liable in any manner for any user-generated content or posts on this Database. In the event that the Website team considers any post or content to be incompatible with the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and/or with the objectives of the Conference, it reserves the right to remove such content.