Υπηρεσία Αναζητήσεων Ελληνικού Ερυθρού Σταυρού

Ever since its foundation, in 1915, until now the Hellenic Red Cross Tracing Department has performed very significant task. During its course, it has not only been active in unstable situations, in time of war and peace tracing missing persons, both in Greece and abroad, but also it has facilitated communication between captives, detainees and refugees and their relatives.

Goals

· Maintain family unity · Restore family links · Maintain communication among family members · Trace the missing persons and inform their relatives

The Hellenic Red Cross Tracing Department has the largest tracing record in Greece and one of the largest worldwide, with 400.000 personal files. The “Information Bank” of the Tracing Department is constantly fed with new data and documents while, for more effective function, it collaborates closely with the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), the International Network of Tracing Services, State or Private Institutions, International Organizations, Mass Media and volunteers both in Greece and abroad.

Activities

· Collect personal data of missing persons · Keep record of the data of the missing persons and of the applicants · Gather and keep record of general information · Restore communication after having traced the missing persons · Provide Red Cross Messages (RCM) · Contribute to the repatriation of victims of armed conflicts · Provide assistance to Greeks living abroad and to foreigners living in Greece to trace their relatives always in cooperation with local or foreign institutions, governmental or non governmental organizations (NGOs) · Provide certificates to hostages, prisoners, tortured, murdered, in order to help the victims or their relatives on retirement issues or on their rehabilitation.

The activities of the Hellenic Red Cross Tracing Department always based on showing respect to the family and to the right of the people to be informed of the fate of their beloved ones and reunite with them, expand further than just tracing people. The motto of the Tracing Department’s work is “to maintain the family unity”.