ICRC: Failure to meet international obligations often shifts burden to humanitarian sector

Responsibility for the consequences of states' failure to fulfill their international obligations is often shifted to the humanitarian sector, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) representative Christian Rivier said at a panel session of the 4th International Conference on Missing Persons, Report informs.

"Current global trends are a serious cause for concern. Conflicts continue, polarization is intensifying, and dehumanizing rhetoric is becoming widespread. Responsibility for states' failure to fulfill their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, is often shifted to the humanitarian sector. Determining the fate and whereabouts of people who have gone missing as a result of conflicts, as well as meeting the needs of their families, is a process that can be described as neither easy nor simple," he said.