Syria launches platform to address fate of missing persons
Shafaq News – Damascus
On Sunday, Syria’s National Commission for the Missing launched a unified platform to document cases, trace the fate of missing persons, and provide legal and humanitarian support to families.
The Commission, created by presidential decree in May with a mandate to build a national database, document cases, and assist families of the disappeared, unveiled its new initiative at a workshop in Damascus, intending to “improve coordination between state institutions and civil society organizations.”
Mohammed Reda Jalkhi, Head of the Commission, told Shafaq News the project will “strengthen cooperation with civil society and reinforce national unity in addressing this humanitarian issue.” He outlined a six-month plan that includes consultations with families, engagement with local institutions, and the creation of a digital database to centralize information.
Agreements have already been signed with the Ministries of Health and Education and the Atomic Energy Commission to use specialized laboratories for DNA testing, which Jalkhi said would improve the ability to identify victims, despite the absence of official statistics, with most estimates coming from independent monitoring groups.
Civil society leaders welcomed the step, including Julnar Ahmed, Director of the Syrian Archive Program, who affirmed that the platform would “combine resources and expertise, speeding up documentation and expanding support for families.”
According to monitoring networks, at least 181,312 people have been detained or forcibly disappeared in Syria since 2011, including 5,332 children and 9,201 women. Of these, 177,057 are classified as forcibly disappeared, with nearly 90% of cases attributed to the former regime. Around 160,000 are believed to remain in its detention centers, while other parties hold the rest.
