Motion for a resolution | Doc. 13682 | 26 January 2015

Missing persons during the conflict in Ukraine

Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

1. The Parliamentary Assembly is very concerned about the growing number of cases of missing persons reported by all sides of the military conflict in Ukraine.

2. Among the disappeared are not only soldiers, but also civilians, including volunteers who were helping people who were suffering during the conflict. There is no exact information on the number and possible location of missing persons as many of them could be in territory under the control of separatist groups.

3. The Assembly welcomes the efforts of Ukrainian authorities in opening an All- Ukrainian Centre for the search of prisoners and dead and missing soldiers during the anti-terrorist operation, as well as establishing a hotline for families of missing Ukrainian and Russian citizens who disappeared in the Donbas region. Nevertheless, there is still no unified list of people who have gone missing during the military actions in Ukraine. The tracing of those who have disappeared is undertaken by various volunteer and human rights organisations and their work is not co-ordinated by the authorities.

4. The Assembly should call on the authorities of Ukraine and the Russian Federation to undertake all necessary measures aimed at helping the families of missing persons to find and, where appropriate, to identify the remains of their loved ones without delay. It should also suggest concrete recommendations on the most urgent measures to be taken to identify the human remains of missing persons and to record their identity, as well as to create the necessary legal framework and national mechanisms to solve the problem of missing persons.