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BALKAN CRISIS ICRC REUNITES SEPARATED FAMILIES
ICRC tracing staff working in Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have for the first time succeeded in reuniting members of families who were separated as they fled Kosovo into the two neighbouring countries.
ETHIOPIA / ERITREA ICRC VISITS NEWLY CAPTURED PRISONERS
Delegates of the ICRC visited some 300 Eritrean prisoners of war between 17 and 19 April. The prisoners, captured since hostilities between Eritrea and Ethiopia resumed in February, are currently being held in a transit camp.
SUDAN war-surgery seminar
The ICRC and the Sudanese military medical corps held a joint three-day workshop on war surgery in Khartoum from 27 to 29 April.
SOUTHERN AFRICA PEACE-KEEPING EXERCISE
Two ICRC delegates took part in a four-day peace-keeping exercise dubbed Blue Crane -- the biggest such event ever organized in Africa.
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BALKAN CRISIS ICRC REUNITES SEPARATED FAMILIES
ICRC tracing staff working in Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have for the first time succeeded in reuniting members of families who were separated as they fled Kosovo into the two neighbouring countries.
Last week, delegates took three young children, the children's grandmother and a 17-year-old boy from Macedonia to Albania, where their families had been located. The first family had been split up as they scrambled to flee Kosovo. The boy had lost track of his father, who, unlike his son, eventually ended up in Albania after the border to Macedonia was suddenly opened some weeks ago.
These were the first families to be reunited between the two countries. The transfer was part of a tracing operation that began in the former Yugoslav republic when it became apparent that many families had been split up during the chaotic exodus from Kosovo and sudden influx into Macedonia after the border was opened. The ICRC has set up tracing offices in seven of the main refugee camps in the country in order to help families restore contact.
The information gathered in the camps is processed and cross-checked at the ICRC's tracing centre in Skopje. So far, the organization has managed to bring together over 150 families whose members were living in different camps in Macedonia and has registered more than 400 children separated from their parents. Delegates have also collected the names of around 1,000 parents searching for their children.
Further information: Francois Zen Ruffinen, ICRC Skopje, tel. ++389 70 231 269 Amanda Williamson, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 2678
ETHIOPIA / ERITREA ICRC VISITS NEWLY CAPTURED PRISONERS
Delegates of the ICRC visited some 300 Eritrean prisoners of war between 17 and 19 April. The prisoners, captured since hostilities between Eritrea and Ethiopia resumed in February, are currently being held in a transit camp. The ICRC team, which included a health delegate, registered the POWs and interviewed them in private, in accordance with the Third Geneva Convention.
In addition to the new prisoners, the ICRC is continuing regular visits to POWs and interned Eritrean civilians at Bilate camp to verify whether their living conditions are in keeping with the rules of international humanitarian law.
In Eritrea, meanwhile, the ICRC is pursuing its efforts to gain access, as required by the Third Geneva Convention, to Ethiopian POWs captured since the conflict erupted last year.
Further information: Juan Martinez, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 22 81 or ++41 79 217 32 17
SUDAN war-surgery seminar
The ICRC and the Sudanese military medical corps held a joint three-day workshop on war surgery in Khartoum from 27 to 29 April. "This exchange of experience and knowledge between ICRC and military surgeons should help improve care for wounded people in Sudan, a country that has suffered 16 years of internal conflict," said ICRC orthopaedic surgeon Chris Giannou. This is the second time that the ICRC has organized such a workshop in Khartoum.
"At the first workshop we took a general approach", Dr Giannou added. "This time we focused on limb trauma, which should prove useful to those who organize medical training programmes in the Sudan."
The course was attended by around 100 people including 20 surgeons in training, 35 medical students, 12 civilian doctors, 10 military medical officers and five nurses. Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Minister of Defence stressed the benefit in humanitarian terms of such cooperation between the ICRC and the military medical corps.
Further information: Laurent Dufour, ICRC Khartoum, tel. ++ 249 11/476 464
SOUTHERN AFRICA PEACE-KEEPING EXERCISE
Two ICRC delegates took part in a four-day peace-keeping exercise dubbed Blue Crane -- the biggest such event ever organized in Africa.
The exercise was held from 22 to 25 April at the South African National Defence Force's battle school in Lohatlha, Northern Cape province. The simulation involved more than 4,000 soldiers from 12 of the 14 countries of the Southern African Development Community and was part of a larger three-week programme on peace-keeping monitored by the United Nations. Each day the South African army, hosting the exercise, prepared incidents requiring role-playing in which not only the military participants took part but also humanitarian organizations such as the ICRC, UN agencies and a range of NGOs. The events involving the ICRC included a simultaneous release of prisoners, negotiations with armed groups and an exchange of mortal remains.
The ICRC's active participation in the exercise helped the military and other humanitarian agencies gain a better understanding of its role and mandate. One feature was a series of presentations by ICRC staff on international humanitarian law. The emphasis on the essential distinction that must be drawn between humanitarian agencies and the military will hopefully make it easier to coordinate their respective activities and share information in any future operations.
Further information: Janet Szabo, ICRC Pretoria, tel. ++27 12 437 335
During the weekend of 8 - 9 May 1999, for all information please call the spokes man on duty Urs Boegli , on (mobile) 41 79 203 94 05