Ladu [seated in a purple plastic chair] disappeared in 2007 – 15 years ago and was reunited with his family in Juba in April 2022. Credit: ICRC

More than 5,700 South Sudanese are still missing due to conflict and violence in the country, the International Committee of the Red Cross has said.

The revelation comes as South Sudan joins the rest of the World today to mark the International Day of the Disappeared.

On August 30^th each year, the Red Cross highlights the issue of family separation by drawing attention to the plights of individuals unable to be located and those left behind.

According to the ICRC, most disappearances are not registered or documented.

Sophie Marsac, the head of the ICRC’s program that helps people maintain contact with their loved ones urged the country’s authorities to acknowledge the calamity of missing people and the impact on their families.

“Over 5,700 cases of missing people are currently being followed by the ICRC and the South Sudan Red Cross,” Marsac told Eye Radio.

“The actual number of missing people in South Sudan is probably much higher, as most disappearances are not registered or documented,

“A third of the disappeared persons registered with the ICRC were children when they went missing,

“The ICRC calls on the authorities to acknowledge the tragedy of missing people and the impact that it has on families and to do everything in their power to prevent people from going missing, take measures to search for those who are missing, and to provide information to families on the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.”

The ICRC recently conducted a study on the needs of South Sudanese families who live the anguish of not knowing the whereabouts of their family members.

The report titled “I did not know where to start” covered 181 interviews with families of missing people.

The aid agency also interviewed people who had been previously counted as missing related to conflict, armed violence, or another crisis.

Its findings indicated that the priority needs for most families of the missing in and outside South Sudan are yet to know what happened to their loved ones.

The agency said more than half of the affected families are struggling to cope with mental health-related issues.