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During times of chaos and upheaval it can be easy to lose contact with family members. The Restoring Family Links program aims  to prevent separation and disappearance, look for missing persons, restore and maintain contact between family members and clarify the fate of people considered as missing, as consequence of a disaster, conflict or migration.

Earlier this year, Canadian Red Cross teams assisted refugee claimants throughout Canada. Restoring Family Links (RFL) services were provided at the border in Saint-Bernard de Lacolle, Quebec 24 hours a day to connect people with their families, wherever they may be. 

April 1, 2011 should have been just another regular day for the Bambas. Sara, a young mother of four, had left her two eldest with her mother while she took her youngest son, Mohamed, to a neighbouring village for medical care.

Every day, thousands of people are looking for family members who are missing. On August 30, humanitarians around the world are recognizing the Day of the Disappeared, which acknowledges the need to identify and document the fate of people who are missing and to provide support for family members left behind.