UAE becomes member of Interpol on Disaster Victims Identification

The announcement was made during the opening of the second course on Disaster Victim Identification, held under the supervision of the Victims Affairs Office at the Ministry of Interior, in collaboration and coordination with the Interpol. The opening session was attended by the central operations directors and a number of police entities and external partners from different institutions in the state.

During the opening of the international course, Major-General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Police Central Operations, said that collaboration in exchanging information and expertise between the Interpol and the Victims Affairs Office of the Abu Dhabi Police Crisis and Disasters Management Department has contributed a quantum leap in developing the work mechanisms and the professional level of the employees.

The course included a number of topics related to victims identification during disasters and crisis. The topics were discussed by experts from the Interpol such as Steve Sergeant, victim identification expert from the Victims Affairs Office of the Crisis and Disaster Management Department, who highlighted the social and legal responsibility to identify the victims of disasters and crisis and how to determine their identities.

Simon Dzedrofski, Director of Victims Identification branch in the Interpol in Lyon, France, commended the UAE’s keenness to identify the victims, pointing out that the UAE is the first country in the Middle East to acquire membership at the Interpol specialised in disaster victims identification.

He also mentioned that the official languages used at the organisation are Arabic, English, French and Spanish. Establishing the Victims affairs Office constituted a landmark in the terms of decision making, and the use of work mechanisms in accordance with international standards, thus proving the commitment of Victims Affairs Office employees to work as per these standards, which earned the office an important status in the region.

Joan Coetzee, victim identification expert at the Interpol, talked about the importance of the Interpol and its role in identifying victims; stressing that the task of identifying disaster victims is a complex task, and no entity or state can individually identify victims without help, particularly since these “helpers” include volunteer experts, health services and other organisations.

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