Restoring Family Links

The American Red Cross restores family links to thousands of families each year. Restoring Family Links is a service provided by the American Red Cross and set forth in the Geneva Conventions—treaties signed by nearly all nations to set standards for humane treatment of all people in times of war. Within its congressional charter, the American Red Cross is charged with providing relief to victims of international disaster. "Relief" means responding not only to the physical needs of victims, but to their psychological needs as well. This means helping people restore communication with missing family members and learn the fate of lost loved ones.

Services provided by the American Red Cross and the International Movement include:

• Locating missing loved ones when the separation is due to armed conflict or disaster
• Sending Red Cross Messages between separated family members—civilians, prisoners of war, and political detainees
• Obtaining information about the fate of civilians, including those separated during the Holocaust & World War II
• Processing international disaster welfare inquiries when normal communications are disrupted
• Securing ICRC travel documents for people who have been offered permanent resettlement
• Providing information and referral services