Shafaq News/ The United Nations has warned that a global surge in missing persons is obstructing post-conflict recovery and threatening international peace.
UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific Khaled Khiari reported that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) registered 56,000 new cases in 2024, pushing the total number of unresolved cases to nearly 255,000. “Such disappearances, particularly in conflict zones, erode trust and hinder reconciliation efforts."
Khiari urged full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2474, which obliges parties to armed conflicts to account for the missing and provide answers to their families. “The right of families to know must be upheld."
He cited the situation in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians, including minors, are missing, and accused Israel of withholding the remains of the deceased, preventing families from accessing critical information.
Khiari also referenced civilians unaccounted for in Ukraine, as well as unresolved cases in Myanmar, Syria, and the Korean Peninsula. In Ukraine alone, the number of missing has doubled over the past year to around 50,000, with military personnel comprising 90% of that figure.
In Syria, more than 35,000 people have been reported missing since the start of the civil war. The ICRC has established hotlines to help reunite families but warned that processing these cases will take time due to the data volume.
The ICRC attributes the rising numbers to the spread of armed conflicts,now over 120 globally, and the frequent violation of international humanitarian law, including failures to identify the dead or disclose information about detainees.
“Resolving the crisis requires coordinated international action and full compliance with humanitarian obligations,” Khiari emphasized.
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