Clarification:
Enab Baladi received a clarification from IIMP head Karla Quintana regarding her remark to Anadolu Agency. She said the committee has evidence that some missing children in Syria are still alive, not “persons” in general.
Karla Quintana, head of the UN-affiliated Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria (IIMP), said the committee has verifiable and reliable information and evidence indicating that some of the people missing in Syria are still alive.
She told Turkey’s Anadolu Agency on Tuesday, November 4, that the committee is investigating the fate of hundreds of thousands of missing Syrians, focusing on disappearances linked to the former regime, missing children, migrants, and especially those who disappeared at the hands of the Islamic State group.
“This is not the task of a single institution,” Quintana said, stressing that national institutions, civil society, UN agencies, member states, and relatives of the missing must all be part of the process.
She noted that resources are always limited, but available opportunities will be directed toward concrete projects.
Quintana said the institution operates with a team of around 40 staff, adding that a tragedy of this magnitude cannot be resolved by the efforts of just one body.
The IIMP is still very new, she said, explaining that it was founded two years ago thanks to the struggle of families who persuaded the UN General Assembly to establish it.
She noted that with the ouster of the Assad regime in Syria, it is now possible to access the field in practice. Ten months ago, she said, the committee did not even contemplate going into Syria to search for the missing, whereas it now can.
According to Quintana, the committee is holding discussions with the National Commission on the Missing and with families of the missing to begin work on concrete projects, and it is ready to share its knowledge, tools, skills, and resources with Syrians.
The committee will work to find the missing, both living and deceased, she said, emphasizing that the process should be nationally led and internationally supported.
The IIMP also has information on missing children and women who may be victims of sexual slavery or human trafficking, Quintana said.
Regarding coordination with the Syrian government, she said she met Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani during her visit to Syria at the end of January, and that she is in ongoing contact with the head of the National Commission for the Search for the Missing, established by Syria’s transitional president Ahmad al-Sharaa.
She believes this cooperation is challenging and not easy, since achieving coordination and starting joint work is extremely difficult. This is the first time in world history, she said, that an international institution and a national one will search for missing persons at the same time; there is no precedent.
She added that cooperation with Ankara is essential to gather information on Syrians missing across borders, and that the biggest obstacle to finding the missing is information sharing.
Quintana underscored the importance of using artificial intelligence and forensic science in the institution’s work, noting that technology is vital not only for sharing information but also for collecting scattered data.
Scientific methods are used not only to identify the dead, but also missing persons who are still alive, she added. “When we talk about forensics, we are not talking only about the dead, we also need science and DNA to identify missing and living children.”
Trust is fundamental to the organization’s success, she said. Without building trust among all parties, it will not be possible to find the missing. The institution needs resources, personnel, and science, but the first and most important element is trust and constant engagement with the families of the missing. “We cannot achieve this without them.”
She added that time is running out quickly to find the missing in Syria, but the process also requires patience.
Recommendations for addressing the missing persons file
In a previous interview with Enab Baladi, Quintana said, “Establishing the National Commission is an effective step for the issue of the missing and its relation to national reconciliation and peacebuilding. It is a recognition of the pain felt by families over their missing loved ones, a wound still open in every Syrian home.”
She added, “Within our humanitarian mandate, the IIMP supports Syria’s efforts to search for all the missing without exception. People have gone missing in Syria over more than 50 years of rule by the former regime, including 14 years of war.”
Quintana offered several recommendations for handling the missing persons file in that earlier interview:
The search for the missing in Syria is a massive task that no one can undertake alone. Cooperation among all relevant bodies and stakeholders is essential; everyone’s efforts must come together to move this forward. Involving families and the civil society organizations that have worked on this for years is vital to the process of searching for the missing in Syria. The IIMP has an important role in providing specialized knowledge and expertise and in working together to support national efforts.“Support Group”
On August 30, the National Commission on the Missing launched the platform “Support for the National Commission on the Missing in Syria,” in cooperation with six civil society organizations that have documented enforced disappearances of Syrians since 1970. Enab Baladi and several local and Arab media outlets attended the press conference.
The platform, known as the Support Group, aims to build a database on the missing and to create a card program that supports their families legally, psychologically, and socially, while establishing protocols for witness protection and data sharing.
The platform brings together multiple organizations that have documented victims of enforced disappearance, most prominently the Syrian Justice and Accountability Center, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, the Syrian Archive, the Association of Detainees and the Missing of Sednaya Prison, Lawyers and Doctors for Human Rights, and the Caesar Families Association.
The National Commission on the Missing was formed on May 17 by Decree No. 19 issued by Syria’s transitional president, Ahmad al-Sharaa.
The Commission has documented more than 63 mass graves in Syria. Estimates place the number of missing between 120,000 and 300,000 people, with the real figure likely higher given the difficulty of comprehensive accounting, according to its head, Mohammed Reda Jalkhi.
UN: Some missing children in Syria are still alive Enab Baladi.
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