Representatives of the Group for Missing Persons (GNO) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Kosovo, Serbia and international organizations reminded today in Sarajevo that the search for about 11,000 missing persons in the wars fought in the 90s is still ongoing in this region.
The program director of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) Matthew Holliday considered the fact that 75 percent of the more than 40,000 missing in the wars in the former Yugoslavia have been found as an unprecedented success in the world.
He pointed out that the institutions that were established for this purpose, the dedication and perseverance of everyone involved in the process, the engagement of the families of the missing, the use of new DNA technologies, and regional cooperation are responsible for this success.
Holliday acknowledged the efforts of the Missing Persons Group and the families of the missing and urged them to continue.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Missing Persons of BiH, Marko Jurišić, said that such achievements were unimaginable eight years ago, when the GNO was established.
He underlined that they were often contested and victims of political processes and congratulated all colleagues for their courage and wisdom in finding compromises and common solutions acceptable to all, which improved the search for the missing in the entire region.
The British and German ambassadors to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Julian Reilly and Thomas Fitschen, expressed their satisfaction that their governments have financially supported the work of the GNO for years, which has already achieved exceptional results, and called for continuation so that the families of the missing can find the truth.
The group for missing persons consists of prominent representatives of institutions from the region that are responsible for solving the issue of missing persons. It has a role in overseeing activities within the Framework Plan that was signed in November 2018 at the ICMP headquarters in The Hague, Fena news agency reports.
Photo: Fena