Bosnia and Herzegovina: 6,874 dark balloons remind us of missing persons

Despite bright sunshine, dark clouds cast shadows over the city squares of Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka on 30 August 2016. The clouds were carrying not rain but a question: Where is (s)he? The families of the 6,874 people still missing in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been waking up and going to bed with this question on their minds for more than 20 years.

Red Cross volunteers distributed symbolic clouds made of 6,874 dark balloons throughout the country on the International Day of the Disappeared. Carrying the balloons enabled people to express their solidarity with the families of missing persons, symbolically sharing their burden of uncertainty.