Syria Tens of thousands of Syrians missing: aid workers face "huge" task
After the upheaval in Syria, the tens of thousands who disappeared during the years of civil war and the rule of Bashar al-Assad are coming to the fore.
13.12.2024, 17:58
SDA
It could take not just days or months, but years, to come to terms with their fates and provide answers to their families, said Stephan Sakalian of the Red Cross.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights has counted around 157,000 missing persons in Syria since the outbreak of the civil war in March 2011. The deputy managing director of the Syrian civil defence organization Weisshelme, Faruk Habib, told the German Press Agency that the number could be over 200,000. Over the past 13 years, people in Syria have contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with around 35,000 missing persons cases, as Sakalian reported. However, he assumes that the true extent is much greater, said the ICRC representative in Syria in a video link.
Traces in prisons, clinics, morgues and authorities
In view of the enormous amount of information and graves, Sakalian called for cooperation between the Syrian authorities, civil society, international actors and the Red Cross. "We have a huge job ahead of us," he said.
In the notorious Saidnaya military prison north of Damascus, many people have been searching for clues about their relatives in recent days. Sakalian expressed concern that official documents containing important information on missing persons were scattered around the prison.
"We have called on all actors in the country to do everything possible to secure this important data," said the ICRC representative. This applies not only to prisons, but also to morgues and hospitals as well as security and military authorities, he emphasized.
