A) Objectives of the pledge:
More and more people around the world are forced to leave their home countries and, unfortunately, many of them die or disappear while trying to reach safe shores, leaving behind families with no information about their fate. Often, the tracing activities of the Restoring Family Links Network of the RC/RC Movement cannot provide these families with definitive answers. The Swiss Red Cross Tracing Service with the help of the Swiss authorities has carried out a mapping of the current situation in its country in order to thoroughly understand the process of how deceased migrants are identified, registered, if and how their families are informed and who is responsible for these tasks. Over the last 5 years, Switzerland and the Swiss Red Cross have been able to establish a basis for collaboration. A common working group of the signing parties and a plan of action have been set up and the objectives of the previous pledge have been achieved.
To ensure the continuity of the support to the concerned families, the signing parties commit to:
- Assess the data protection and possible entry into the common used tools and Platforms of the police (i.e. the Interpol project I-Familia Platform).
- Identify and sensitize focal points per canton within the Police in order to strengthen the support of local authorities to the concerned families.
- Clarify the handling of cases of missing persons in Switzerland. Identify and, as far as possible, offer solutions to any legal, administrative or factual obstacles that might be hindering the identification of missing persons and the information to their families.
B) Action plan:
- The participants finalized the data protection assessment with Interpol and were able to collect the results in a document shared with the members of the working group.
- The participants have raised awareness of the topic among the various local police forces through joint collaboration on concrete cases.
- Best practices have been gathered and tools and ways to achieve the above-mentioned objectives have been shared within the signing parties.
- Subsequently, the signatories have identified concrete channels guaranteeing fluid exchanges of information’s as to the fate of their deceased loved ones and the follow-up of their file.
- In order to achieve the objectives, the members of the working group agree to meet three times a year until 2028.
C) Indicators for measuring progress:
Proposed evaluation criteria (in 2028):
- The participants finalized the data protection assessment with Interpol and were able to collect the results in a document shared with the members of the working group.
- The participants have raised awareness of the topic among the various local police forces through joint collaboration on concrete cases.
- Best practices have been gathered and tools and ways to achieve the above-mentioned objectives have been shared within the signing parties.
- Subsequently, the signatories have identified concrete channels guaranteeing fluid exchanges of information’s as to the fate of their deceased loved ones and the follow-up of their file.
- In order to achieve the objectives, the members of the working group agree to meet three times a year until 2028.
D) Resource implications:
N / A
