Red Cross reunites 26 children with families in Sudan
NAIROBI, Feb 23, 2004 (Xinhua) — The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday reunited 26 children aged between 4 and 17 and two elderly women with their families in the southern Sudanese towns of Raja and Wau, according to an ICRC press release available here.
The children and the women were among thousands of civilians who fled the fighting in Raja at the end of 2001. In the ensuing chaos, they were separated from their families and ended up in camps for displaced people in Western Equatoria, some 300 km away on the other side of the front-line, according the press release.
“This is a great moment for the children and the parents who have been separated from each other for more than two years,” said Annika Norlin, the ICRC delegate in charge of the operation. “It is the second cross-line reunification carried out by the ICRC in three months,” she added.
These happy events came about after months of preparation. Working closely with the Sudanese Red Crescent and numerous volunteers in southern Sudan, the ICRC registered the children, traced their parents and helped them to reestablish and maintain contact, using Red Cross messages.
The operations took place after the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Sudanese government gave their formal approval.
The children were brought back home on board an ICRC aircraft. Hundreds of people in Wau and Raja came to the airport to share the joy of their parents.
The ICRC assists thousands of families in the Sudan to communicate with their relatives across the front-lines through the use of Red Cross messages. It gives special attention to unaccompanied children by seeking to organize family reunifications whenever possible.
A huge number of children throughout the Sudan are still separated from their parents. According to international humanitarian law, families split up as a result of conflict have the right to know about the fate of their loved ones and to be reunited with them.