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4h ago

UN Reports At Least 97 Abductions and Disappearances in Syria This Year

OHCHR says insecurity plus intimidation are obstructing efforts to trace the missing.

A general view of a refugee camp in Idlib, a northwestern Syrian city where Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) had maintained an administration at the time when Syria's civil war front lines were frozen, Syria, December 17, 2024. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Overview

  • OHCHR told reporters it has documented at least 97 people abducted or disappeared since January, with new reports still coming in and figures hard to verify.
  • The recent cases come eleven months after the fall of the former government and add to more than 100,000 people who went missing during the Assad era.
  • The UN office cited outbreaks of violence in Sweida and coastal areas, noting that some people are too afraid to speak and that others have faced threats for engaging with the UN.
  • OHCHR highlighted the unresolved disappearance of Syria Civil Defence volunteer Hamza Al‑Amarin, who went missing on 16 July during a humanitarian evacuation in Sweida, and reiterated that humanitarian workers must be protected under international law.
  • In May, Syria’s presidency announced commissions for justice and missing persons to probe Assad‑era crimes, while OHCHR voiced support for the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic.