More than 5,000 missing South Sudanese citizens who were displaced as a result of the conflict in the country have been traced and reunited with families since 2018, a top International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) official said.

Pierre Dorbes, head of the ICRC delegation in South Sudan, said the charity will continue to engage with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to trace other missing persons and reunite them with their immediate families.

According to ICRC, thousands of civilians were separated from their families after the outbreak of civil strife in South Sudan in December 2013.

“We urge the transitional government of national unity to support efforts to trace the missing people. The families who are missing their beloved ones need support specifically the elderly people,” Dorbes said in a statement.

Kot Bol Nyuar, undersecretary in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, said that efforts have intensified to help locate missing persons and reunite them with next of kin.

“We are making effort to make sure all the missing persons in the country are found and reunited with their families. It is time for peace and every citizen deserves to enjoy this relative calm with their beloved ones,” he told Xinhua.

ICRC said that more than 4,000 cases of missing persons displaced by conflict and violence were being followed up.

The families of missing persons often experience mental and emotional trauma hence the need to offer them psychosocial support, the agency said.

The conflict which broke out in South Sudan’s capital, Juba in December 2013 liked an estimated 400,000 people and displaced millions into neighbouring countries.