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Finding missing family

Our international family tracing service can help you find missing family. If you’ve been separated from relatives because of war, natural disaster or migration, we may be able to help you reconnect.

Last updated: 2 September 2026

How we might be able to help you with international family tracing

We help families reconnect with missing loved ones who have lost contact because of armed conflict, migration, and disasters. This includes finding partners of people who are not married.

We may be able to help you if you are in the UK and want to:

  • find your missing family
  • contact a family member (send a message but not money or packages)
  • get a certificate of detention for those who have been imprisoned.

The international family service is free and confidential.

Our service is to help find missing family and we can't give you letters for evidence in official proceedings.

See our family tracing frequently asked questions for information about the process.

Find your local family tracing service

Help find family in a recent emergency

Get updated information on what to do if you have lost contact with relatives in:

Lost contact with relatives in Nepal

If you are concerned about a relative or family member in Nepal who may have been affected by the recent flash floods, we understand how distressing this can be.

You may wish to:

Try contacting other family members or friends in the region who may already have news.

Concerned about a British national?

The UK government has released contact details of a hotline that has been established for concerned citizens.

If you are affected and need assistance from the UK government, call:

  • from Nepal +977 (0)14237100
  • from the UK +44 (0) 207 008 5000

You can also sign up for email alerts on the FCDO website to receive the latest travel advice.

Families of British nationals in Nepal are advised to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has set up an Emergency Control Room (ECR):

Families living in Nepal are advised to contact:

  • Nearest Nepal Red Cross Society district chapters/branches
  • Nepal Red Cross hotline: 1130

Lost contact with relatives in the Middle East  

If you are concerned about a relative, friend, or family member in the Middle East region who may have been affected by the recent escalation, we understand how distressing this can be. 

You may wish to:

  • Try contacting other family members or friends in the region who may already have news.

What happens next?

If you are still without news of your relative, please contact your nearest family tracing service.

Concerned about a British national?

If you're worried about a British national in the Middle East, please contact the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office at 020 7008 5000 (available 24 hours). You can also sign up for email alerts on the FCDO website to receive the latest travel advice.


Tips for keeping in touch with loved ones

There are lots of things you, your family and friends can do to keep in contact and look out for each other.

This includes thinking ahead in case one of you gets ill.

  • Set up regular calls with family or friends, especially if you or they live alone.
  • Create a written list of your next of kin/close family or friends to be contacted in an emergency.  Include their names, phone numbers and addresses. Keep your emergency contact list in your wallet or purse.
  • Make sure your family members and emergency contacts know your current phone number and home address.
  • If you are living far from your family members, have the contact details of their neighbour or someone else who is in touch with your relatives.
  • Write the phone number of other family members and give it to your children so your children can contact them if you become ill.
  • If you are ill and need to go to hospital remember to take your phone and charger. 
  • Share these tips with others!

Other helpful tips:

  • If you have any prescription medication make sure it will be easy to find details of this and any allergies, for example with your emergency contact list.
  • Have you discussed your wishes with your family members and emergency contacts, if you were seriously ill due to coronavirus?
  • We have worked with Doctors of the World and other organisations to produce information on coronavirus in multiple languages.  

International family tracing frequently asked questions

What will happen at my appointment?

In the appointment:

  • We will ask questions about your relative and where you think they might be to assess if we can look for them.
  • We'll fill in a tracing and consent form together.
  • We can provide an interpreter for your preferred language.

Please note, most of our appointments are by phone or video call.

If you would like to see us for a face-to-face appointment, we will try and do this when possible. Please let us know when you speak to us.

 Find out more about the international family tracing service (PDF)

What data and consent will be needed?

We will need your consent to share your information when looking for lost family. If you have questions about your personal data, please email: dataprotection@redcross.org.uk.

How do you find find people?

We work with other Red Cross and Red Crescent organisations around the world to find people in their countries. Please remember that:

  • Some Red Cross and Red Crescent societies can take longer to respond to tracing enquiries, depending on the situation in their country. Enquiries for tracing lost people will be sent to them and evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
  • In countries where there is armed conflict, staff and volunteers could be put at risk when trying to find missing family members. For this reason, we ask that you use our service only if you want to restore contact with your relatives.

We can’t promise to find your lost family or relatives, but we’ll contact our colleagues in that country and let you know as soon as we get any news.

You can also check if your family are looking for you and add your photo to our Trace the Face website.

If you are a refugee, we may also be able to help you reunite with your family in the UK.

How can you refer to the International Family Tracing Service?

If you would like to refer someone to our International Family Tracing service, please complete our referral form and email it to your nearest tracing team - you can find their contact details here. Please read the accompanying guidance document to understand what information is needed.

If you are a social worker referring an Unaccompanied and Separated Child (UASC), please download our external guidance document to learn more about how we work with UASCs. This is also available in Welsh.

All the documents mentioned can be found here:

If you don't live in the UK, how can you still get help to find your family members and friends?

If you can’t use our international family tracing service because you don’t live in the UK, you can contact the Red Cross or Red Crescent in your country.

There are also other organisations who may be able to help you with finding a missing person or loved one if we can't.

Download and print your Emergency Contact Card and tips for keeping in touch with your family and friends.

You may also want to get:

Have you used this service before?

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How we're helping reunite separated family members

How to give help

We couldn’t run this free and unique family family tracing service without the support of our committed staff, volunteers and the people who generously donate to us. If you want to help our finding missing family work, you can:

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