Geneva: More than a quarter of a million people have been registered as missing over the past five years—a nearly 70 percent increase compared to 2019, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported on Friday.
ICRC Director-General Pierre Krähenbühl said the sharp rise is driven by conflicts in countries such as Sudan, Ukraine, Syria, and Colombia. “This shows that armed groups and their affiliates are failing to protect civilians during wartime,” he noted.
By the end of 2024, nearly 284,400 people had been listed in the ICRC’s Family Links Network. Krähenbühl warned that in reality, millions remain separated from loved ones—sometimes for years or even decades.
He stressed that countless families could be spared lifelong suffering through measures such as preventing separations, ensuring the protection of detainees, and properly managing the dead. The ICRC reiterated that states and parties to armed conflicts bear the primary responsibility to reduce the risk of disappearances and support affected families.