New York, July 23 (SANA) UN Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria Karla Quintana said cooperation with Syrian authorities and partners is helping lay the groundwork for a national system to exchange information on missing persons, in line with international standards.
Speaking during a briefing to the UN General Assembly, Quintana said resolving the issue of missing persons is a priority for rebuilding trust and achieving lasting peace in Syria.
She said the institution is working to establish a comprehensive mechanism to determine the fate and whereabouts of missing persons while supporting their families. She added that the institution provided some families with information about missing relatives last year as it continues developing systems to deliver further answers.
The institution has processed more than 75,000 documents, integrated extensive databases and developed analytical tools to connect information across thousands of cases, Quintana said.
She said the institution’s mandate covers people subjected to enforced disappearance under the deposed regime, missing children, cases linked to the terrorist organization ISIS and other armed groups, as well as people who disappeared during migration and asylum journeys. It also includes cases reported missing since December 2024 and the gradual registration of missing persons outside Syria.
Quintana stressed that information-sharing is essential for successful search efforts, saying the institution has shared its systems and information with Syrian authorities and international partners while working with Syrian counterparts to establish a comprehensive national database for missing persons.
She said a national search mechanism is necessary given the scale of Syria’s missing persons crisis, adding that the institution has supported the National Authority for Missing Persons since its establishment last year through projects including mapping hundreds of mass grave sites, exchanging information on missing persons along migration routes and contributing to the development of a legal framework.
The institution has also provided expertise in policy development, capacity building, staff training and institutional infrastructure, Quintana said, noting that international experience shows that addressing a crisis of this scale requires years of work, strong institutions, sustainable funding and effective information systems.
She called for establishing a permanent office for the institution inside Syria, saying a field presence would strengthen its ability to support Syrians and carry out its mandate.
Quintana said Syria is among the countries with the highest numbers of missing persons worldwide, both in absolute terms and relative to its population.
“Every Syrian has a missing person or knows someone who has a missing person,” she said.
She stressed that searching for missing persons must remain a top priority, adding that the effort requires cooperation among Syrian authorities, families of missing persons, civil society, the National Authority for Missing Persons, international partners and UN member states.
Quintana also paid tribute to Syrian women who often bear the burden of searching for missing loved ones, saying that 19 months after the new reality in Syria began, important first steps have been taken but much work remains.
“Hope must be balanced with realities, and intentions with results,” she said.
The UN Security Council discussed transitional justice and missing persons in Syria during a session last Tuesday attended by Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ibrahim Olbi, Head of the National Authority for Transitional Justice Abdul Basit Abdul Latif, and Head of the National Authority for Missing Persons Mohammad Reda Jalkhi.
T.S /ABD
