Date of release : 28-01-2005

Policy area : Justice and Home Affairs Justice and Home Affairs

Event : Informal Meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers

On the subject of the task of identifying the European victims of the tsunami in South Asia, the informal meeting of ministers for Justice and Home Affairs heard Ronald Noble speak. He discussed the situation and the task in the area of European and international police. Paying homage to the agents working in the area and to the quality of cooperation between the European and international police forces, Minister Frieden touched on the need to create a database containing the pre-death DNA information of those who disappeared, which will allow the bodies to be identified.

"The task of identifying the victims of the tsunami will take years. This is why it is now being clarified how, or, in what way and for how long the data that has been collected on an emergency basis can be stored. This raises complicated legal questions that must be resolved, as must those questions that have arisen in relation to storing the post-mortem DNA of the victims."