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The Hague, 11 September 2024: The Missing Persons Group (MPG) met this week in The Hague to prepare for a strategic meeting with EU Foreign Ministers. The MPG will present its Report on progress made in locating missing persons from the Yugoslav conflicts of the 1990s at the Berlin Process Summit in October.
The MPG Report will highlight the fact that more than 75 percent of the 40,000 people who went missing in those conflicts have been accounted for, it will outline achievements to date and it will review the continuing efforts to locate those who are still missing as a vital contribution to peace and stability in the region.
Formed in 2018 as part of the Berlin Process, the MPG consists of institutions tasked with resolving the issue of missing persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. The MPG plays a crucial role in coordinating regional efforts to resolve the cases of more than 11,000 persons who are still missing persons.
The 2024 Report describes progress that has been made in the past year, but also highlights continuing challenges including lack of credible new information on mass and individual clandestine graves. Despite these difficulties, the Report stresses that continued collaboration can ensure the resolution of remaining cases.
“The work of the MPG is essential to account for those who are still missing from the conflicts of the 1990s,” said ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger. “This issue is about securing justice for families of the missing – acknowledging the suffering they have endured, ensuring accountability, and restoring dignity for victims. Resolving these cases is not just a technical process; it is a moral and legal obligation.”
At the Berlin Process Summit regional and European Union foreign ministers will discuss the importance of regional cooperation to address the issue of missing persons and they will consider further measures to support the MPG’s efforts.
The work of the MPG, and today’s meeting, is supported by the Government of the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany.
More information on the MPG is available here – ICMP Regional Cooperation in Accounting for Missing Persons in the Western Balkans – The Missing Persons Group
Background
In July 2018 at a Berlin Process Summit in London, the Prime Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Croatia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Slovenia and Poland signed a joint declaration reiterating their commitment to the regional effort to account for those still missing from the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.
After the signing of the London Declaration, in November 2018 at ICMP’s Headquarters in The Hague representatives of the domestic institutions that are responsible for accounting for missing persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia signed a Framework Plan that lays out steps to formalize their multilateral cooperation and increase their effectiveness in accounting for missing persons throughout the region. The Joint Framework Plan outlines key areas of cooperation, including the establishment of the Missing Persons Group (MPG), and engagement of families in implementing the Plan. The Missing Persons Group comprises senior representatives of the institutions in the region that are responsible for addressing missing persons issues. It plays a role in supervising operations under the Framework Plan. The Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany are financing the implementation of the Framework Plan.
About ICMP
ICMP is a treaty-based intergovernmental organization with Headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands. Its mandate is to secure the cooperation of governments and others in locating missing persons from conflict, human rights abuses, disasters, organized crime, irregular migration and other causes and to assist them in doing so.
