ICRC News 44 / 16-Nov-00

** SHORT MENU....

Republic of the Congo
Red Cross message reunites father and daughter after 27 years

The ICRC tracing agency in Brazzaville needed only one day to find Bernard
(not his real name), a Congolese technician, who had been without news of
his family in Cuba for 27 years.


Democratic Republic of the Congo
ICRC reunites 170 unaccompanied children with their families

No less than 170 unaccompanied children were able to rejoin their families
thanks to a large-scale airlift organized by the ICRC on 3 and 10 November.
In the first stage 79 children and adolescents ranging in age from one to
16 years were flown from Goma to the Congolese capital Kinshasa.



** STORIES IN FULL...

Republic of the Congo
Red Cross message reunites father and daughter after 27 years

The ICRC tracing agency in Brazzaville needed only one day to find Bernard
(not his real name), a Congolese technician, who had been without news of
his family in Cuba for 27 years. When Bernard went to study on the
Carribean island several decades ago, he married a Cuban woman with whom he
had a daughter, Nancy, in 1968. In 1970, after completing his studies, he
returned alone to his home country to put his newly acquired knowledge to
use. He corresponded with his family in Cuba for three years, then lost
contact with them.

For years, Bernard sent letters to various people, both officials and
private individuals, in the Congo and Cuba, in a fruitless attempt to
discover the whereabouts of his family. One can hardly imagine his surprise
and emotion when a Red Cross message recently arrived from his daughter,
whom he thought he had lost forever.

Nancy is a 32-year-old woman now. She too had tried for many years to find
her father, but her attempts had also been unsuccessful owing to the many
conflicts in the Congo over the years. In desperation, she finally turned
to the Cuban Red Cross, which found the solution in the form of a message.

In the Congo, as in some 60 other countries, the ICRC restores and
maintains family links. The ICRC delegation in Brazzaville began its search
as soon as it received Nancy's message, to which she had attached her
father's wedding picture. To the amazed delight of her and Bernard, this
time she was in luck.

Further information: Natalie Kohli, ICRC Brazzaville, tel. ++242 81 12 08


Democratic Republic of the Congo
ICRC reunites 170 unaccompanied children with their families

No less than 170 unaccompanied children were able to rejoin their families
thanks to a large-scale airlift organized by the ICRC on 3 and 10 November.
In the first stage 79 children and adolescents ranging in age from one to
16 years were flown from Goma to the Congolese capital Kinshasa. The Boeing
737 returned to Goma the same day with another group of 14 children. A week
later, 77 minors took off from Goma bound for Lubumbashi in Katanga
province aboard the ICRC-chartered plane. On their arrival the children
were looked after by the ICRC before being handed over to their families,
from whom most of them had been separated since the conflict in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo flared up again in August 1998.

This operation was the largest airlift of unaccompanied children in the
country to date, and the first time that an ICRC aircraft had been able to
go directly from Goma to Kinshasa overflying Congolese territory.

Since January 2000, the ICRC has reunited 404 Congolese children with their
families and has repatriated 310 children to Rwanda and one to Burundi. It
is still trying to trace the relatives of some 1,200 unaccompanied minors,
in both government-controlled and opposition-held areas of the country,
with a view to organizing family reunifications.

Further information: Juan Martinez, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2281


During the weekend of 18 -19 November 2000, for all information please
call the press officer on duty Amanda Williamson, 
on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 16