In 2013, Ali’s son Mohamad was abducted amid armed conflict in Afghanistan. Living in a province in the centre of the country, Ali had no idea what happened to his son, or if he was even still alive.

“It was devastating when I heard the news that my son had been captured,” says Ali. “Many other men were arrested, captured and abducted at the same time. They were slaughtered, beheaded, their dead bodies thrown away on the street on the main road for their families to retrieve. We always feared one day we would find Mohamad this way. I used to cry day and night. I was so heartbroken.”

One year after Mohamad was abducted, Ali himself was forced to flee Afghanistan. “I went to work one day as normal but was never able to return home.” Separated from his wife and family, Ali travelled to Indonesia before being accepted as a refugee in Australia in 2018. “I was all alone, and my health deteriorated,” he recalls. “It was the hardest time of my life. I became so weak by the time I arrived in Australia that I couldn’t even walk.”

Thankfully, Ali’s family – including his wife and sons, and his missing son’s wife and children – were finally able to join him in Australia in 2023. But they still had no information on Mohamad.

“I never stopped trying to find my boy,” says Ali. “I would ask everyone I met to keep their ears and eyes open for news. Every time someone arrived in Australia from another country, I would reach out to ask them if they knew anything about my son.” But with no pictures to identify Mohamad or any information on his whereabouts, the search felt impossible.

Then, in October 2024, Ali and his family received word that someone had spotted Mohamad in the background of a YouTube video. “I couldn’t believe it. I was so excited to know that he might still be alive,” exclaims the father. Unsure where to go from there or what to do with the video, Ali was referred to Australian Red Cross’ Restoring Family Links service, which helps to trace and find missing family members and loved ones. Every year, the International Committee of the Red Cross, along with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world, helps to account for, trace, reconnect or reunite thousands of family members who have lost contact or gone missing as a result of war, disaster or forced migration.

After reviewing the video with Restoring Family Links, Ali was able to determine that it was filmed in Kazakhstan. Working with the international Family Links network, the team reached out to its counterparts in the country, who were able to trace and find Mohamad.

“It worked like a miracle,” says Ali. “I don’t know how they did it.”

In Australia, Restoring Family Links supports people like Ali who are searching for missing loved ones overseas, while also conducting searches within Australia on behalf of Red Cross tracing teams globally. The program’s caseload reflects the impact of both historic and ongoing conflicts, as well as separation caused by natural disasters, situations of violence and forced migration.

In the year leading up to July 2025, Restoring Family Links Australia managed a total of 755 missing person cases, where 1,562 people were sought by loved ones, in addition to locating or clarifying the fate of 74 people through the global Red Cross and Crescent Movement.

Restoring Family Links is guided by the International Committee of the Red Cross' seven fundamental principles – humanity, neutrality and impartiality among them – which grant extensive reach to areas that are often difficult to access.

_{*Real names of people in this case study have been anonymised for protection purposes.}