05 April 2012

Today, EULEX forensic experts and their local counterparts from the Department of Forensic Medicine (DFM) handed over the remains of four individuals who went missing in 1999 during the Kosovo conflict. The remains were handed over to the members of the families and to the representatives of the Serbian Government Commission for Missing Persons at Merdar/Merdare.

The individuals were identified by EULEX forensic experts through a combination of DNA and forensic anthropological analysis.

Alan Robinson, the co-head of the Department of Forensic Medicine, said:

“Today the Department of Forensic Medicine and the EULEX forensic experts handed over the remains of four individuals who had been missing since 1999. Tomorrow we will hand over more. This will bring the total of hand-overs to 291 since our Mission began. Soon we will be handing over at least a dozen more identified remains.

“However, it is important to remember that there are still 1790 persons unaccounted for. The issue of missing persons is complex and sensitive. EULEX and the DFM will continue its intensive work to determine the fate of as many of the missing as possible” Robinson said.

Tomorrow, 6 April 2012, the remains of four additional individuals who went missing during the conflict will be handed over at the Department of Forensic Medicine in Pristina.