Philippines: Statement on the release of 17 Filipino seafarers onboard Galaxy Leader vessel held in Yemen
“We share the joy in this news, as the seafarers will finally be reunited with their families after more than one year,” said Johannes Bruwer, head of the ICRC delegation in the Philippines.
“As a neutral humanitarian organization, the ICRC, through its delegation in Yemen, visited the 25 detained seafarers of MV Galaxy Leader—17 of whom were Filipinos—twice: once in May 2024, followed by another in September 2024. These humanitarian visits were aimed at determining their conditions of detention, and to pass news from their families through Red Cross messages that were collected in our offices located in the countries of origin of the crew members, including our Manila office,” he added.
The ICRC visits people detained in relation to the conflict to ensure their proper treatment and monitor conditions of detention; and traces, restores contact or reunites family members who got separated or went missing because of armed conflict or other situations of violence. With the Philippine Red Cross and our Red Cross and Red Crescent partners worldwide, we reconnect families who are separated by disaster or migration.
Family members who are searching for loved ones who may be missing or detained in relation to the armed conflict may contact the ICRC’s offices in Makati, Butuan, Cotabato or Zamboanga cities. The ICRC, through its wide network among state and nonstate groups, and access to detention facilities in the Philippines, will strive to help families connect with their loved ones.
The ICRC is not involved in negotiations for the release of people detained in relation to the conflict. It focuses on humanitarian concerns that detainees may have; and facilitate—if requested—the safe and dignified return of released detainees around the world.
For more information about our work to restore family links, visit www.familylinks.icrc.org
For more information, please contact:
Rachel Malaguit, ICRC Manila, tel: +0928 5046478, email rmalaguit@icrc.org or visit our website: www.icrc.org
To preview and download the latest ICRC video footage in broadcast quality, go to www.icrcnewsroom.org
About us
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.
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