Laboratory in Netherlands to Help Find Missing People Worldwide

 

Millions of people worldwide have been reported missing.

Many of them went missing as a result of armed conflicts, such as the war in Syria, or in other places of violence.

Large numbers of people disappear after natural disasters.

A new laboratory equipped with the latest technology seeks to help the families and friends of the missing.

In late October, the International Commission on Missing Persons, or ICMP in The Hague opened a laboratory to help identify missing individuals.

The lab is the latest effort for an organization that was established after the Srebrenica massacre¹. More than 8,000 Bosnian men and boys were killed after Bosnian Serb forces captured the town of Srebrenica in 1995. It is the only incident in the Bosnian conflict to be defined by two United Nations courts as genocide.

Since its creation, the International Commission on Missing Persons has identified 20,000 human remains² and provided evidence in 30 criminal trials. It now helps to identify people who have been reporting missing during conflicts, natural disasters, or migration³.

The group recently helped Ingrid Gudmundsson confirm that her pregnant daughter and her one-year-old granddaughter were killed in the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami⁴. They went missing after the huge wave struck the coast of Thailand, where they were staying.

Gudmundsson said it was important to know for sure what happened to them.

"You know, when you don't know where they are, when they are just missing, you - in your head – you always have some kind of hope even if your intellect tells you that it's impossible."

Scientists working at the laboratory say the new technology can identify people with a very small amount of DNA⁵ from a piece of bone. DNA carries genetic⁶ information in the cells of people, animals and plants.

Rene Huel is a scientist at the lab.

"What we do is cross-compare against the family samples in these massive databases. So we do this large-scale kinship comparison."

Human Rights activists⁸ hope the laboratory will help bring to justice to those guilty of war crimes.

Muhamad Abulhusun is a refugee and rights Activist⁷.

"Any future settlement, it has to bring justice and it has to clear the destiny of the missing people because the families of those missing people are the stake holders⁹ in any future settlement."

The commission's director general, Kathryne Bomberger, noted¹⁰ that the group is also active in helping¹¹ victims of abuse and violence.

I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

migration – n. the act or processing from place to place

tsunami – n. a very high, large wave in the ocean that is usually caused by an earthquake under the sea and that can cause great destruction when it reaches land

sample – n. a small amount of something that gives you information about the thing it was taken from

database – n. a collection of pieces of information that is organized and used on a computer

kinship – n. the state of being related to the people in your family

1 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

4 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

5 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

6 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。