Trace the Face is an online tool with pictures of people looking for their missing relatives. You can look here for your missing family member if:

- you have migrated to/within Europe or Southern Africa region and lost contact with your family in your home country or any other country

- you have a family member who have gone missing while migrating to/within Europe or Southern Africa or once they have arrived in Europe or Southern Africa. In any other cases – for instance loss of contact linked to war, natural disasters or migration outside Europe or Southern Africa Region – the International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent can still help you. You must contact or go to the nearest National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC office.

So far, it is not possible to publish your photo yourself. You can only do it through a National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC staff.

Contact your nearest National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC office. They will help you to file a request to look for a family member.

If you have recognized someone in the photo gallery, press on the link “Do you have information?” which is right under the picture. Fill up the information form. A National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC staff will get in touch with you as soon as possible.

Yes. On the website, only your picture and your family link with your missing relative will be shared. Neither your name, nor location will be disclosed. All other information you have shared to help look for your relative – as where you live now or details about how and when you lost contact – are confidential. This information will only be shared within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. During your interview with their staff, you are given the choice to share some information on your relative with other organizations in order to help look for him/her. More information will be given to you by the Restoring Family Links (RFL) Officer when you start this process.

You can access the photo-gallery anywhere in the world. However, if you wish to upload your photo on the website, you can only do it through National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC staff.

If someone recognizes your picture or if your relative has been found by other means, National Red Cross or Red Crescent or ICRC staff will get in touch with you. Unfortunately, this can take some time, so it is very important to keep us updated on any change in your contact details (address, telephone number) or if you have restored contact with your missing relative.

Yes, if you are looking for someone who has gone missing while migrating. The photobook on Trace the Face can be checked all around the world. The service to upload your own picture is not available in all countries though. If it is not possible to upload your picture, the Restoring Family Links program can still help you look for your lost relative. Please approach the nearest National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC office where you live to know how.

Yes, you can check the photo gallery to see if your loved ones are also looking for you, wherever they are – in your home country or in another country. You can also contact the nearest National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC office to start the search, and if you wish, publish your picture on Trace the Face.

Yes, you can check the photo gallery to see if your loved ones, who have migrated to/within Europe or the Southern Africa region, have already published their picture. You can also contact the nearest National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC office to start the search, and if you wish, publish your picture on Trace the Face.

If your relative is under 15 years-old, you will not find them in the photo-gallery. Their pictures are not on-line, and this is to protect them from potential harm.

If your relative is over 15 years old, we are sorry you have not found them. You can try looking again on Trace the Face website after some time and check if they have not posted their picture. You can also go to the nearest National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or International Committee of the Red Cross office, in the country you live in to file yourself a request to look for your relative. There is a specific department in each of these offices dedicated to help people look for their missing relatives. The program is called Restoring Family Links.

If you are looking for a child of your family, contact the nearest National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC office It will not be useful though to contact the National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC in the country where you think your lost missing relative is. They will ask you to contact the National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC in the country where you are.

If you are looking for a friend, you cannot publish your photo on Trace the Face or open a search with the National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC. To ensure that all concerned are protected from potential harm, only family members can do that. You can still help look for your friend by contacting their family and asking them to approach a National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC office where they live.

In parallel of the searching efforts led by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, your personal searches may have led you to restore contact with the family member you were looking for. In this case, you should inform the National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC office you are in contact with and they will make the necessary to remove your picture from Trace The Face and close your case.

Yes. You always have the possibility to request to access, update or delete the information you have shared with the staff of the National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC. If you want your photo to be removed from Trace the Face, you should contact the nearest National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or ICRC office. This could be the one with whom you have been in contact for your case, or the nearest office to you where you live now.

Only International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent staff have access to your and your relative’s information and personal details. When you will have an interview with the International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent staff, you will be asked if some information can be shared with other organisations. Personal information and data will only be shared with your authorisation.

The National Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies' and ICRC’s object gives are purely humanitarian.

Data Protection video - explained

If your missing relative is under fifteen years old, you will not find their picture on the website. In order to protect them from potential harm, photos of minors under 15 and in some countries under 18, are not made public – only National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society or International Committee of the Red Cross staff have access to them. To look at the children’s photo gallery, you must go to the nearest Red Cross / Red Crescent Restoring Family Links office.