Zeru: "I want to thank you guys. For everything you guys have done for me. For searching, for all the phone calls. I just want to thank you guys."

Riné: "And we want to thank you for sharing your story today. That way others also know that the Red Cross can help them find their missing family members."

Zeru fled Eritrea in 2021. After years of wandering, he ended up in the Netherlands. He had lost touch of his wife and children back in Eritrea when he fled. COA referred Zeru to the Red Cross, where he applied online. An intake interview with two volunteers, Irene Gerards and Erwin Kordes, followed. They work for the Restoring Family Links (RFL) department and carefully recorded Zeru's details.
 

Erwin: "I've been doing this work for two years now; not all stories stick with me. But I won’t easily forget this story. This feeling you have during the initial interview that there might be a match."

Irene: "First, we had Zeru tell his story about how he had lost contact with his wife and children. He shared his wife’s, her parents’, and their children’s details."

Erwin: "We asked him to write the information down so we wouldn’t make any spelling mistakes when entering the names into the computer. I got goosebumps the moment his wife's name appeared on the screen – with exactly the same spelling. We looked at each other with this look like: how are we going to share this?"

Erwin gets a lump in his throat telling this story. And it has made a big impression on Irene as well. They both help people who are looking for their relatives. Zeru's story stands out because it rarely happens that a match is found so quickly.

Employee Riné had called them beforehand to say that there might be something special going on. Based on the registration data, it seemed there was a possible match with a woman who was looking for her husband in another part of the Netherlands. Edwin and Irene set out to see if they could confirm this hunch.

Zeru: "How did the story begin for you?"

Riné: "All requests for help from the Netherlands come to me. I check the names and see if I can find them in our administration system. It’s a puzzle sometimes because we don’t always know how to write the name correctly. If there is no 'match' in our own system, we can also run the name through another database, where Red Cross associations from other countries share information about family members who are also looking for family members."

Riné: "We are very curious how you ended up at the Red Cross."

Zeru: "At first, I had no idea what to do, where to start. In the asylum seekers' center, I shared my story with a policeman. He asked if I had a wife and children and I said yes. He said there might be relatives of mine in the Netherlands."

Riné: "How did you go about it?"

Zeru: "I ended up at the IND who sent me on to COA. From there, I was referred to the Red Cross, to RFL.”
 

Zeru: "How were you able to put us back in touch?"

Riné: "Your wife was in the Netherlands, just like you. That's why I was able to find your names in our own records. It's really special when we know so soon where the person we’re looking for is. It’s always a real joy for us when we can help bring people together, reunite families. But usually it takes a long time finding someone and usually the person trying to find their families lives in a different country than their family member(s). This time it was a big surprise that you both had registered with the Dutch section of RFL. That way you were able to hold each other in your arms again quickly."

Riné: "How did you react when you heard that the other family members were also in the Netherlands?"

Zeru: "That was an amazing moment. I couldn't believe it and I couldn't utter a word. I couldn't control my emotions. A little later, we called my wife. I couldn't talk and neither could she. We were just crying. Not even when we video called a little later."

Irene was there too: "His wife was completely overwhelmed. For her, the phone call came as a complete surprise. He recognized her voice and was speechless afterwards. They couldn’t utter a word, there were just tears and a smile. That was already super intense. They wanted to see each other, so we decided to take a short break to process it. Then they talked to each other through a video call. They saw each other for the first time in five years. Five years, in which they did not know if the other was still alive. The young children had been missing their father all that time."

Erwin: "For many people we are their last chance. They try to find each other through Facebook or other channels. Sometimes we have to tell them that we weren’t successful. This is a very nice outcome. You get a lot of energy from this."

Riné: "Did you see each other soon after?"

Zeru: "Yes, I visited them shortly after. I have been able to see them three times now."

Riné: "You don't live together yet?"

Zeru: "No, unfortunately not yet. I have informed the authorities about my wife and children and indicated that I would like to be with them. They now know of our situation, so I hope they can help us further."

The Red Cross RFL department helps people find their family members again. Because of their flight from an emergency or crisis situation, people sometimes lose each other. The Red Cross helps with the search for missing family members and restoring contact. We do this together with the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) and all national Red Cross and Red Crescent associations. Zeru now hopes that he will soon be able to live with his family. Unfortunately, the Red Cross is unable to provide him with further assistance in this regard. During the interview, Riné says she can refer Zeru to the right organizations to help him further.