RFL Update/ Italian RCS – Tragic incidents in the Mediterranean Sea

In line with the recent degradation of the situation in Mediterranean Region, particularly along the Italian coasts and with the increase of tragic incidents at sea, please do note that families are not encouraged to contact directly the Italian RCS for Tracing requests that they would like to submit. Do please register any Tracing case /request for families approaching your services and forward the cases with appropriate forms to: mediterraneo@familylink.cri.itPotential beneficiaries should be informed prior to complete their Tracing requests that the treatment of such cases which will be submitted to Italian authorities is often long and sometimes without any outcome. Indeed, the process of finding elements of identification amongst the deceased as well as survivors is long and uneasy for technical reasons such as the fake identities used commonly by migrants entering Europe and because of the fact that a significant amount of dead bodies never reach the shore.Therefore, do not raise too much expectations amongst families approaching your services regarding potential prompt results / feedback about their cases.Besides, there is an emergency phone number & an email address (+39 389 3432063 / rfl@cricatania.it) which mustn’t be shared widely. This is more intended for calls in Italia and  for other interlocutors. Please do  not communicate it to families abroad since the service will be at immediate risk of saturation. Do privilege the modus operandi described above by taking all requests at your Tracing services’ level (NS or ICRC Delegations).Thanks for your understanding and  cooperation.RFL Mediterranean Office / Italian RCS