Authorities in Belgrade and Pristina must undertake stronger efforts to shed light on the destiny of the missing persons during the war in Kosovo, International Committee of the Red Cross Committee warned at a round-table discussion in Geneva.

The years are passing by, but the time does not ease the pain of the families. Many of them are getting old and their health deteriorates, stated Christine Beerli, Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Committee. She said a blind eye should not be turned to their sufferings and that they have the right to know what happened with their closest family members.

Members of the delegations from Kosovo and Serbia, who are part of the Working Group on Missing Persons, as well as representatives of the families of missing persons were present at the conference, that pointed out the progress in finding the missing persons over the last couple of years is not only small but also significantly slowed down. Beerli also urged the international community to offer stronger support to Belgrade and Pristina.

Since the conflict in Kosovo 1998/1999, 1658 persons are listed as missing. Out of this number more than 1000 are Albanians, around 540 are Serbs and non-Albanians, while 30 are still in the process of verification.