On May 25th, International Missing Children’s Day, the Dutch Minister of Justice and Security announces a European police network for missing children experts. The network, initiated by AMBER Alert Europe, is announced during a conference of the NL Presidency attended by European law enforcement experts from 25 European countries European Commission, Interpol and NGOs.

“As the current EU president we have the chance to improve European cooperation and find missing persons more quickly”, says Ard van der Steur the Minister of Justice and Security. The network will enable missing persons experts to speed up cross-border cooperation and save the lives of missing persons. The Minister calls on every member state to appoint a national contact point.

European Parliament supports NL Presidency

The initiative of the NL Presidency is backed by the European Parliament. In support of the NL Presidency a great majority of 465 Members of the European Parliament from all 28 Member States and all 9 political groups signed AMBER Alert Europe’s Written Declaration for better European cooperation on saving the lives of missing children. The Written Declaration is the most successful Declaration since 2011.

Conference Missing Persons: Missing Information

The network of missing children experts is announced during the Conference ‘Missing Persons: Missing Information’ on May 25th, International Missing Children’s Day. The main goal of the conference is to improve to exchange of information regarding cross-border missing children cases. During the day the effectiveness of the use of citizens assistance and the Schengen Information System (SIS) to find missing children is discussed.

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