These days, when we think about war, we think about Iraq. But the world’s forgotten wars persist. Each has its own stories of destruction, disorder, and death. And in each conflict, humanitarian workers are made to suffer for their kindness.

Take, for example, Arjan Erkel. The 32-year-old Dutchman was kidnapped at gunpoint last August while volunteering for the medical-aid program Doctors Without Borders (also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF) in Dagestan, a republic in the Russian Federation. Erkel was leading a team of doctors in caring for refugees from nearby Chechnya, where a decade of conflict between Russian authorities and rebels has left behind a humanitarian crisis. On August 12, three unidentified gunmen abducted Erkel from the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. More than 240 days have passed since. No one at MSF has received information about his whereabouts.

" We don’t know who kidnapped Arjan, how, where, or why, " says Patrice Page, the program officer at the international agency’s New York office who oversees efforts in the Russian Caucasus region. " Those details are just not known to us. "

That so much time has passed with so little information is " quite frightening, actually, " says Page. It’s true that abductions of aid workers have become increasingly commonplace in recent years. Since the civil war in Chechnya broke out in 1993, as many as 56 volunteers for humanitarian organizations have been kidnapped in the Caucasus region, Page says. Last year, Erkel was one of four such workers to go missing. But his abduction stands out for one reason: in almost every kidnapping case, workers were held captive for a matter of days, not months. On top of that, MSF has not heard from any group claiming responsibility so as to fetch a high-priced ransom.

Since Erkel’s mysterious disappearance, the agency has bumped up against Russian and Dagestani authorities. MSF has repeatedly tried to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking government officials to discuss the pending investigation — to no avail. " So far, " Page explains, " our requests have been refused. " Just this month, Erkel’s father, Dick, traveled to Moscow to deliver hundreds of thousands of signatures on an MSF-sponsored petition calling on Putin to step up efforts to find the missing volunteer. But when Dick asked for permission to appear at the Kremlin on April 2, Page says, he was denied. " It’s not normal that we haven’t been able to get attention from Russian officials, " he adds.

The silence has convinced Page and his colleagues that Russian and Dagestani authorities lack the political will to solve the Erkel case — hence, MSF’s current petition drive. The agency has collected more than 300,000 signatures from people worldwide, from Australia to New York and Paris to Japan. Supporters hope the petition, which asks Putin to do " everything in his power to secure Arjan’s release, " serves to remind the Russian president about his country’s responsibilities under the Geneva Conventions. International law allows humanitarian organizations to provide aid to war-affected populations and requires host countries to protect such workers. " When we cannot get significant information, " Page says, " when we’re not heard or received, we believe that feeds a climate of impunity for the host countries. "

He then adds, " We want Arjan’s speedy release, and we believe that political willingness will help facilitate that. We want to bring Arjan home. "

For more information on Arjan Erkel and to sign his petition, visit the MSF Web site at www.doctorswithoutborders.org