During the War, in 1973, Mrs Sophan had to give up her 6th child for adoption as she could not afford to look after him and wanted him to have a future. “I was very sorry to give up my son,” she explained as she tightly clutched Sophal’s hands in her own. “I had no other choice. We were very poor and did not have good living standards. I wanted him to have a good future. A better one than I could offer him.”

At the tender age of 8 months old, Sophal had to be given up for adoption. After hearing about how Mrs Sophan was struggling to bring up her baby, Dr. Cham Roeun Sam Oeun, who was working at Chey Chomnes Hospital (Formerly Kandal Hospital) offered to help. Knowing a French couple who were desperate for a baby, Dr. Sam Oeun organised the adoption of little Sophal who was then taken back to France.

Returning for the first time 31 years later, Sophal was overwhelmed with emotion having found his mother within xxx days of looking. After trying many times to contact his mother with no success, he did not think he would ever find her. “I tried so many times to find my mother” said Sophal.

“Fortunately, I told my driver about my trouble finding my mother and he suggested contacting the Cambodian Red Cross Tracing Service as his father worked for the Tracing Unit in Phnom Penh.”

Because of the short amount of time he was in the country, the CRC Tracing service in Siem Reap organised for him to make an appeal on the local television station, TVK, for any information regarding his mother. Seeing Sophal on television and hearing the description of his story, Mrs Chan Sophan’s cousin realised that it was his family Sophal was describing.

“I did not think my son would ever look for me after I lost news of him 31 years ago” said Mrs Chan Sophan. “I was so excited when I came to the Red Cross and told the Tracing Officer my story. I could not believe my wishes of meeting him were finally coming true.”

Mrs Chan Sophan’s story is one of many to come through the Cambodian Red Cross Tracing Service. Years of armed conflict and war have taken a heavy toll on Cambodian People. With thousands displaced from fleeing the fighting or forced to relocate to other areas of the country, many families have been separated for more than 20 years.

Since 2001, the Cambodian Red Cross has been working hard to reunite families torn apart from the war with relatives living in other parts of the country or abroad to re-establish or maintain contact.

After three years of full integration into CRC NHQ and provincial levels, the CRC Tracing and Mailing service continues to ensure effective tracing and mailing activities for the entire population of Cambodia and has so far located 672 people (164 cases have been successfully solved in the last 3 years), with 129 cases still pending both domestically and abroad.

The Tracing and Mailing Service covers all of Cambodia, with a network of 24 branches set up throughout the country. In each branch, tracing agents visit different areas or villages to either locate the persons sought or to deliver RCM, and also collect RCM/ NTR from the local population, who, due to financial constraints, could not afford to go back to their native village or to trace back their family members.

Sophan’s is one of the 150 people that have been reuntied this year. Of the 140 cases that were received between January – September this year, 37 have been solved, with over 150 people reunited.

Of the 140 cases received, 37 cases were solved with over 150 people reunited. Recently the Tracing Service at the CRC HQ’s in Phnom Penh reunited a mother and son after being separated for 31 years. The son was living in France and contacted the Tracing Service when he arrived in Cambodia.

As well as this, local tracing agents carry out collection and distribution of RCM from / to prisoners in detention centers throughout the country. During 2003, more than 19, 082 RCM were exchanged within Cambodia and abroad, of which, 8 948 were collected / distributed throughout 24 prisons across Cambodia.

So far in 2004, the Tracing Office has already sent out 11, 097 messages including 61 messages abroad and 26 received from abroad. 11, 010 messages have been sent from prisoners to their families.

Dispite the succesful record efficient and effective tracing and mailing services for the entire population of Cambodia, including the population residing in previously inaccessible areas, as well as prisoners/detainees, there is a need to further funding support.

Although Cambodia has developed in the last few years, the postage service and the information flow in the community is still difficult. There are many tracing requests still open and the number of Red Cross messages is still high, especially in the Northwest.

There is a need to support the tracing service and the Red Cross message unit to help recruit families of those who lost their members during the war and armed conflicts which governed more than three decades.