Geneva – Damascus: Europe and the Arabs

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stated that it continues to receive alarming reports of dozens of cases of abduction and enforced disappearance, in addition to more than 100,000 people who went missing under the Assad regime.

The OHCHR reported that since the fall of Assad, some families have been reunited with their loved ones, while many others remain in anguish, not knowing the whereabouts of their loved ones or what happened to them. According to the UN daily news bulletin, a copy of which we received, OHCHR spokesperson Thamin al-Khitan said at the UN agencies' press conference in Geneva: "The fate and whereabouts of all missing persons must be clarified urgently, whether they disappeared before or after the fall of the previous government." He emphasized the OHCHR's support for the work of the Independent Institution for Missing Persons in Syria.

He noted that one of the most prominent recent cases was the disappearance of Syrian Civil Defense volunteer Hamza al-Amarin, who went missing on July 16, 2025, while supporting a humanitarian evacuation mission during the violence in Suwaida, and who remains missing to this day. Al-Khitan said, "We emphasize that all armed parties—whether exercising state authority or not—must respect and protect humanitarian workers at all times and in all places, in accordance with international human rights law and international humanitarian law."

He stressed that achieving accountability and justice for all human rights violations and abuses, past and present, are essential for building a lasting, peaceful, and secure future for all the people of Syria.