UN investigators take on 'titanic' task of finding Syria's missing
6 May 2025 - As Syria emerges from over a decade of brutal conflict, a new chapter is beginning in the search for the tens of thousands who went missing during more than 50 years of dictatorship.
For the first time since it was established in 2023, investigators from the UN Independent Institution on Missing Persons (IIMP) has been able to access Syria, following the fall of the Assad regime in December last year.
In an exclusive interview with UN News, the head of the General Assembly-mandated body, Karla Quintana, described her moving encounters with family members crying out for justice - and the importance of accessing infamous sites of imprisonment and torture, in search of the truth.
"The scale is overwhelming...everyone knows someone who is missing," she says, outlining the hopes, challenges and urgent need to find closure for a Syria in transition.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
UN News: You have mentioned a hopeful new reality in Syria that could help in the search for missing persons. Can you elaborate?
Karla Quintana: Of course. In June 2023, the General Assembly created the Independent Institution on Missing Persons thanks to the relentless efforts of the families. Back then we did not have access to enter Syria and look for their missing ones.
We expected to work primarily with families in the diaspora. After 8 December [the fall of the Assad regime], there is a new window of hope and of opportunity for the families, for Syrian society and for us to work in Syria - work with civil society, the interim authorities and of course with the families of the missing.
Now we have access to Syria, and we are building with the families, with civil society, and interim authorities, a response to look for the tens of thousands of persons who went missing in Syria in not only the last 14 years, but almost 50 years.
UN News: During your last visit, you met with Syrian authorities and families of the missing. What were the key points discussed?
Ms. Quintana: So far, we have been in Damascus, and we were finally able to speak directly with families inside Syria.
We met with many women, especially those who are looking for their missing loved ones. We spoke with people who had never spoken to anyone about their loved ones. We gathered testimonies in areas that had never been reached before.
We also began engaging with the interim authorities to build a collective, Syrian-led and internationally supported response. We have now in front of us a huge path that we have to walk together with all Syrians, and with us supporting their lead.
UN News: You also visited areas like Dariya, Tadamon, and Subnaia Prison. What did you take away from these visits?
Ms. Quintana: Field visits are crucial. Before I talk about Tadamon or Subnaia or Dariya, I want to say that when we were in the field, the people with met and people we spoke with, literally - and this is literally - everyone knows someone who is missing in Syria.
When we took cabs, when we were in restaurants, when we were walking in the streets, people would come to us to tell us their stories. It is important to understand the scale of the crisis. We know Syrians are looking for tens of thousands of missing persons, but we do not know for sure how many.
In places like Tadamon, Subnaia Prison and Dariya, we saw firsthand the destruction, the desolation. These are places where so many were tortured, murdered and of course, where many people went missing.
This is only the tip of the iceberg and there is a lot of work ahead, in coordination with national and international stakeholders.
UN News: How can the international community support your mission and help advance the search for missing persons in Syria?
Ms. Quintana: We expect to continue to receive their support as we have so far. I also want to emphasize their help in establishing the IIMP, and the efforts of the families of the missing.
We still need their support in this process that is just starting. We are asking the interim authorities to establish an office in Syria, to help us work closer to the field. We will also need the international community's support - not only financial support, but also technological support, scientific support and political support.
I must underscore that this process must be locally owned and internationally supported. We will provide technical and scientific support to national actors. It is not only the authorities but also the civil society and Syrian families to look for their loved ones.
UN News: What are the biggest challenges you face in finding the missing and delivering justice?
Ms. Quintana: The mission before us is titanic, it is enormous. We still do not know the full number of missing persons - it could be tens of thousands or more. A major challenge is resources, as is the case globally. But we also have the big challenge of information sharing.
When looking for the missing, information is critical. We need to have the information, process it, share it and we need to interconnect it, to be able to start looking.
It is important to stress here that when we talk about the missing in Syria, we are talking about everyone. We are looking for everyone who is missing, regardless of their nationality, religion or the reason they went missing or who took them.
This is an opportunity, not only for the UN, but for the whole international community to unite - bring our experiences, our resources - and to prove to the world that we can work together and help Syrians and the Syrian interim authorities to bring some answers and bring some truth to the families of the missing that have been waiting years for answers.
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