The head of the UN Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria (IIMP), Karla Quintana, said on Tuesday that resolving the issue of missing persons in Syria is a “collective endeavour” involving every Syrian.
In an interview with UN News, Quintana said, “Every Syrian shares not only the hope of rebuilding their country, but also the hope of finding their missing loved ones.”
She explained that the IIMP’s mandate is broad, covering “everyone missing in Syria, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, or when they went missing.”
“We are talking about hundreds of thousands of missing people in Syria,” the UN official said, adding, “Everyone either has someone missing or knows someone who has gone missing, which makes this a shared national concern.”
She clarified that the IIMP has opened several lines of inquiry to locate individuals who were forcibly disappeared by the former regime, including children. She added that the agency is also investigating cases of missing persons in areas previously controlled by Daesh.
The IIMP is a UN entity established by the General Assembly on 29 June 2023, in response to urgent calls from the families of Syria’s thousands of missing persons. Its purpose is to help determine their fate and whereabouts.
