Management, exhumation and identification of human remains: A viewpoint of the developing world

Missing persons are those whose whereabouts are unknown and hence presumed dead, or those dead but whose remains are not recovered or are unidentified. The problem of missing persons arising from armed conflicts, internal violence and human rights abuses mostly affects developing countries, yet these countries are ill-equipped to tackle the problem. A first-hand account by the authors of the magnitude and gravity of the situation in Kenya is given as an example. Any proper initiative at resolving this issue must be proactive rather than reactive. The authors argue that a network for the identification of missing persons, based on the concept of Missing Persons Clearinghouses should be established in all regions of the globe. The concept is discussed in the article, and a detailed description of the steps involved in the process of human remains identification from the perspective of developing countries is outlined.