During “Operation Link”, which was actively led by the ICRC as part of the overall family reunification operation, some 47,000 Germans and “ethnic Germans” (Volksdeutsche) were transferred from Poland to the Federal Republic of Germany by the end of 1949. This operation was focused on family separations that were a direct result of the war.

The Second Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea received its baptism of fire in 1982, during the conflict in the south Atlantic. The author of this article was present as one of the members of the ICRC delegation. This article is based largely on his experiences at the time and on the thoughts and considerations to which they have given rise.

Side by side with aspirations for universal peace, efforts to limit the effects of war have been made throughout all of history and in all of the world's great civilizations. Such efforts, however, have primarily taken the form of religious or moral precepts; although treaties were in fact concluded, they were limited in scope.

Before the opening of the International Red Cross Conference, the League General Assembly and then the Council of Delegates held their statutory meetings, also in Manila, from 2 to 6 November.

Internationalized internal armed conflicts have become a common feature of the past decades. In numerous civil wars foreign armed forces have intervened in favour of one or the other party and thereby attempted to influence the outcome of the conflict. Various causes have led to this development. One of them is the increased interdependence of States, as a consequence of which every civil war will affect other States and, conversely, the attitudes of other States may have an impact on the outcome of the civil war, even without any intervention. Another cause can be found in the world's ideological cleavage which divides nations and results in the overlapping of internal and international conflicts. Among further causes we can mention the existence of military blocs and of regional groupings which have an interest in preventing the overthrow of régimes within the bloc and tend to encourage alterations in other blocs. Another factor to be taken into consideration is the prohibition of the use of force in international relations. Whereas in earlier times States waged open wars in order to increase their power, today, due to the prohibition of the use of force, they rather endeavour to achieve the same result by interfering in the internal affairs of other States. Interference in internal conflicts is often a substitute for an international war. The instability of many contemporary régimes, mainly of the Third World, further favours the internationalization of internal conflicts.

To receive Your Holiness in the headquarters of our Committee is not merely an honour and a privilege, it is above all a great comfort. In fact, this is a unique opportunity to welcome the Head of a State founded on spiritual strength rather than on military might.

In a world too often ruled by the force of arms, You, as Sovereign Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, embody the spiritual values without which no enterprise can be truly described as human.

Two ideas generally current in the Red Cross on the question of implementation, by the National Societies, of the resolutions adopted during the International Red Cross Conferences are:

1. the resolutions are not binding;

2. the National Societies apply the resolutions voluntarily and in a satisfactory way.

Our purpose here is to examine the exactitude of these two opinions.

The physical impact of the atom bomb was beyond belief, beyond all apprehension, beyond imagination. Its psychological impact was appalling.

The Japanese military authorities were incapable of suppressing the news. In a few hours, a few days, the survivors told the whole country the incredible story of an incandescent bomb dropped by the Americans and devouring everything in its path.

Since the honour devolves upon me in my capacity as President of the International Committee of the Red Cross to take the floor at this point of the opening session of the Twenty-fourth International Red Cross Conference, I will make use of this opportunity to express all the gratitude of the ICRC to the Philippine Red Cross which, with the generous assistance of the government of this country, has prepared, organized and welcomed these sessions of the movement of the Red Cross in this marvellous setting. And I wish also to express my greetings to the people of the Philippines whose reputation for hospitality is so strikingly confirmed today.

At the beginning of the afternoon, we were received by the Japanese authorities in what remained of the former police headquarters. We were offered a frugal lunch. Each guest was given a can of Japanese food: seaweed, meat and beans, and a can of mandarin oranges. A piece of brown bread, with rather a strange taste, completed this meal; for drinks, we had water. This fare showed to what extent the Japanese themselves were short of supplies.

We have the honour to inform you that the International Committee of the Red Cross has officially recognized the Red Crescent Society of the Yemen Arab Republic. This recognition came into force on 22 April 1982 and brings to 129 the number of member Societies of the International Red Cross.

I thank you most warmly for your kind words about the work of the Holy See and my own personal endeavours. I have listened very carefully to all you have said about my native land, about El Salvador and the Middle East, and about peace in general, for these are matters very close to the hearts of Catholics, whose representative I am, and they are constantly in my prayers.

It is a great joy for me to be able to greet the leading representatives of an organisation to which humanity owes so much, at the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross itself! Since its foundation by Henry Dunant over a century ago, this institution, which took root in the hearts of a few generous Swiss citizens, has met with a commendable response all over the world.

We have the honour to inform you of the official recognition, by the International Committee of the Red Cross, of the Red Cross Society of the Republic of Rwanda. This recognition, which came into effect on 6 October 1982, brings to 130 the number of National Societies members of the International Red Cross.

Since the end of the Second World War, technological developments in armaments have produced increasingly sophisticated weapons. The most dangerous of these for air transports protected by the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 are remote controlled missiles equipped with homing devices, the operating raduis of which exceeds the visual range of the protective emblems recognized by these Conventions and carried by medical aircraft. The visual range of the emblem is frequently much less than 1,000 metres.

An International Red Cross Conference is an ideal moment to review the present situation and look to the future. Meeting every four years and assembling as it does the governments and the entire Red Cross family (ICRC, National Societies and the League), this “supreme deliberative body of the International Red Cross” reflects the concerns of the entire movement at a certain point in time. Its resolutions are a gauge of progress achieved in the various fields of Red Cross activity and an indication of the direction that activity should take in future, or in any case until the next International Conference.

We have the honour to inform you that the International Committee of the Red Cross, on 15 October 1981, officially recognized the Tonga I Red Cross Society.

The President of the Republic of France, Mr François Mitterrand, visited on June 2 the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross during his stay in Geneva. Mr Mitterrand was accompanied by Mrs Nicole Questiaux, Minister of National Solidarity, and Mr Jean Auroux, Minister of Labour. He was welcomed by the ICRC's President, Mr Alexandre Hay, and a former ICRC President, Mr Marcel Naville, together with members of the ICRC's Directorate. Also present were representatives from Geneva authorities and from the League of Red Cross Societies.

The Republic of Austria deposited with the Swiss Government, on 13 August 1982, a document ratifying Protocols I and II to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, relating to the protection of victims of international and non-international armed conflicts and adopted on 8 June 1977.

In the following pages we publish a number of documents relating to the Manila Conference. It appeared desirable to make them available to International Review readers without delay, in view of the importance of the subjects dealt with and of their lasting interest. Moreover, because of the very full agenda before the Council of Delegates and the International Conference itself, the time devoted to some items and to their preparatory projects was too short for examination with all the care they deserved. That is why the Review is publishing them now.

The ICRC delegate general for Africa, Mr. Jean-Marc Bornet, went on mission to Angola from 7 to 17 July to re-assess the ICRC assistance programme in the centre and south of the country, and especially the danger it involved. The reason for this was that a series of incidents (abductions, mine explosions during the passage of relief convoys, explosions at the Bomba Alta orthopaedic centre) have compelled the ICRC to limit its delegates' movements and have impeded activities on behalf of the displaced civilian population, the victims of events.