Geneva - The International Committee of the Red Cross called on lawmakers Monday to take greater steps towards helping people who have "been disappeared."

The term refers to people who go missing during armed conflicts. In recent decades, making people "disappear" has become a tactic of certain regimes and rebel groups. Their families subsequently never know for certain about the missing people's fate.

The call came in conjunction with the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which was starting its 121st assembly in Geneva.

"I know about the problem very well," said Theo-Ben Guirirab of Namibia, who is the president of the IPU.

Guirirab told reporters he spent 27 years in exile, being condemned to death in absentia, for being a member of his country's liberation movement against racist rule. During this time, he said, people went missing.

The ICRC created a book of guidelines for lawmakers to create better respect for international law and thereby help those who are missing and prevent future cases of disappearances.

Estimates by the Red Cross assume hundreds of thousands of people have been disappeared over the last four decades.

The IPU was founded in 1889 and now has 143 national parliaments as members. (dpa)