As a result of a powerful earthquake on 8 October 2005, tens of thousands of people in Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir were killed and are missing or separated from their relatives. Families all over the world have lost contact and are without news of their loved ones in the region.

In an effort to help restore family links, the PRCS, in cooperation with the ICRC, offers this service to all those seeking information about relatives who may have been affected by the earthquake.

Delivering family news internationally when normal means of communication have broken down due to war or disaster. This is done using a Red Cross Message (RCM). When war or other disasters strike a country, many people are cut off from their families because normal communications have broken down. Relatives may have been taken as prisoner-of-war or moved to refugee camps or shelters. In these circumstances the Red Cross Message Service is often the only means for families to keep in touch. Messages are restricted to family or personal matters, and must be written on a special Red Cross Message form.
Instead of letters, families exchange Red Cross Messages (RCMs) containing news of a strictly personal nature.
These RCMs have an "Open Letter" format, making them easy to handle and to censor, if necessary.

In a region like South Asia - in which countless numbers of people are compelled to move from place to place - separated family members can easily lose tract of one another. The exact whereabouts of their loved ones becomes unknown
Upon request, the Tracing Service of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society can actively search for lost relatives, collecting whatever information may be necessary to locate them and to re-establish the contact with their families.

INCLUDES ENQUIERY RELATED TO THE MISSING PERSON IN AFGHANISTAN . MAKE REQUEST

INCLUDES ENQUIERY RELATED TO CROSS CHECKING REQUEST ICRC KABUL. MAKE REQUEST

The Tracing Service works on behalf of families who have lost touch with their loved ones. It must try to relieve this anxiety by re-establishing the contact as quickly as possible.

The Tracing Service works openly and with the agreement of the authorities concerned, but the information it collets must remain confidential. No information is passed on without the permission of the located person.

The Tracing Services must never raise false hopes among those it seeks to help. It can never guarantee that its efforts to re-establish contact will be successful.

The principle of respect for the family is universal; it is firmly established in international and domestic law.

The work of the Red Cross Tracing Service world-wide upholds this fundamental human right which is dear to all of us.

Thanks to the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Pakistan Red crescent Society (PRCS) has set up a Tracing Service in each of its Provincial Branches and is soon going to establish Tracing spots in District Branches as well.

Equally important, the PRCS is consolidating its working relationship with the Tracing Services of Indian Red Cross, Bangladesh Red Crescent, Sri Lanka Red Cross and Nepal Red Cross.

The vast network is now operating on behalf of the separated families from South Asia. It is our hope that it will be of value for at least some of the thousands who suffer because they have lost touch with someone they love.

For further details Re-Establishment of Family Links please contact:-


Secretary General
National Headquarters
Pakistan Red Crescent Society
H-8, Islamabad, Pakistan
Ph: +92-51-9250404-5
Fax: +92-51-9250408
E-mail: hilal@comsats.net.pk