In a significant development during Syria’s transitional phase following the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad, the new authorities announced on Saturday the establishment of two bodies focused on transitional justice and the issue of the missing, aiming to address one of the most complex matters stemming from years of conflict.
This announcement reignites a pressing question: How many people have gone missing in Syria throughout the years of turmoil?
Since the onset of the war in March 2011, tens of thousands of Syrians have disappeared, whether from the former regime’s detention centers, beneath the rubble of bombings, during executions and abductions, or while attempting to escape through perilous sea journeys.
During this time, numerous human rights organizations and civil society groups have worked diligently to document cases of enforced disappearances and unreported detentions. After the fall of Assad, the Syrian Red Crescent initiated a campaign encouraging families to report their missing loved ones.
The new authorities have also launched a digital application that allows users to register information about missing persons, including their photographs and details that could assist in tracing their whereabouts.
Diverse estimates… concerning figures
Despite the lack of a precise, verified statistic, United Nations estimates suggest that over 130,000 individuals are still classified as missing due to the Syrian conflict, as reported in 2021.
The International Commission on Missing Persons noted that Hafez al-Assad’s regime, Bashar’s father, was responsible for the disappearance of around 17,000 individuals in earlier periods, highlighting that some of these cases still have politically sensitive implications.
According to the Commission, the number of missing persons in Syria since 2011 includes not only Syrians but also nationals from more than 60 countries, with many Syrians having disappeared during irregular migration attempts.
Compounding the issue, the Commission stated that the war has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands and forced 6.5 million individuals to become internally displaced, while an additional 5.6 million have fled abroad in search of safety in neighboring countries and Europe.
Many families of the missing face the additional challenge of not knowing whether their loved ones are lost within Syria or abroad, particularly as families have become dispersed across different locations and territories.
A body to uncover fates
In this context, on Saturday, a specialized agency for the missing was officially formed, with the aim of “searching for and revealing the fate of forcibly disappeared individuals, documenting cases, creating a national database, and providing legal and humanitarian support to their families.”
The agency will be led by Mohammad Ridha Khalji, who was appointed in March as a member of the drafting committee for the constitutional declaration.
This initiative comes amid ongoing calls from human rights organizations and international entities for the establishment of transitional justice and to hold accountable those responsible for violations, which is seen as a critical step towards building stability in a new Syria after over a decade marked by oppression and destruction under Assad’s rule, according to human rights reports.