The German mission to the United Nations announced on June 10 that it would provide $1 million to support the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic.
The mission said the step comes in cooperation with the Syrian government, to support the families of the missing and strengthen efforts to achieve reconciliation.
It also affirmed Germany’s commitment to supporting the path of stability and contributing to building a sustainable future for Syria.
For her part, Karla Quintana, head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic, expressed appreciation for the German support. She said on X that she was pleased with the discussion she held with German Minister of State Serap Güler on joint efforts to search for the missing and the central role of this process in reconstruction and consolidating peace.
Quintana affirmed the institution’s gratitude for Germany’s continued commitment and its political and financial support for search efforts for missing persons in Syria.
A panel discussion organized by the German Federal Foreign Office, with the participation of Syrian civil society representatives, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, and Karla Quintana, addressed priorities and coordination mechanisms related to efforts to reveal the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons in Syria.
No Official Statistics for the Number of Missing
In an interview with Medico International, Karla Quintana said estimates of the number of missing persons in Syria stood at about 130,000 people when the Assad regime fell.
She added that after the National Commission for Missing Persons was established in May 2025, the commissioner stated that the number could reach about 300,000 missing persons in Syria, while there are still no precise official statistics to date.
Quintana said she has worked on enforced disappearance cases for more than two decades, but has never seen a crisis like this before, as hardly any family in Syria has not lost one or more of its members. She noted that the true scale of the tragedy remains unknown.
Karla Quintana explained how the institution works on the missing persons file, stressing that understanding the context of disappearance is the essential first step in building an effective search strategy.
Dealing with a large-scale issue such as the Syrian case, according to Quintana, differs radically from individual disappearance cases. It requires studying patterns and general contexts instead of focusing on each case separately.
She noted that disappearances in Syria intersect across multiple contexts, including arrests carried out by forces of the former regime, cases of children who disappeared after being placed under protection, people kidnapped by the Islamic State group, and cases linked to migration.
This makes the search similar to assembling a vast mosaic of information, relying on multiple sources, including families, witnesses, perpetrators, and authorities, all of whom are potential sources of information, according to Quintana.
The head of the Independent Institution also stressed the importance of access to government documents and the archives of civil society organizations and international organizations.
She noted that Syrian civil society had been able to preserve copies of some of these archives even before the fall of the former regime.
Quintana also pointed to the important role played by diaspora countries, where Syrians live, where civil society organizations are active, and where authorities have information, including Germany.
Pillars for Success
The success of this work, according to Quintana, depends on political will at the national and international levels to coordinate, fund, and support efforts. She noted that this is the first time an international specialized institution has been created alongside a national commission with a similar mandate.
She also explained that families’ trust is a basic pillar, as access to information is not possible without their cooperation. She noted that the families themselves were the ones who pushed for the establishment of the institution in 2023, and that efforts are currently underway to expand communication channels and support families.
As for the fourth pillar, she pointed to the adoption of a comprehensive search methodology based on the exchange and analysis of information, allowing new hypotheses to be built about the whereabouts of missing persons.
Karla Quintana addressed the nature of communication with the current government in Syria and developments following the fall of the former regime.
Quintana said that before the fall of the former regime, the institution was not allowed to enter Syria, while progress has been made under the current situation toward openness and cooperation.
Debate Over Evidence
The file of missing persons in Syria is still moving slowly, about a year and a half after the fall of the regime, especially with the absence of a regulatory framework for collecting information and evidence, something recently revealed by the case of Dr. Rania al-Abbasi’s children.
Against the backdrop of the case, the Syrian Foreign Ministry called on all countries and international organizations that possess information, documents, or evidence related to Syrian affairs to share them with the relevant Syrian authorities.
The ministry added in a statement on June 7 that the step aims to enable Syrian authorities to benefit from these documents in serving victims and their families by uncovering the truth and supporting transitional justice, accountability, and national recovery efforts.
The Foreign Ministry affirmed that making the requested information available promptly is a key factor in reducing the suffering of victims’ families.
It also strengthens trust in national institutions and supports the work of the National Commission for Transitional Justice and the National Commission for Missing Persons to consolidate civil peace and social stability.
The ministry expressed its readiness to cooperate with all relevant partners to develop partnerships and strengthen the capacities of the competent Syrian institutions.
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