Engaging non-state armed groups to protect missing people
In 2025 alone, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) registered more than 178,300 new missing person cases across the world – the highest yearly increase in at least two decades. Behind each number is a family living with uncertainty, unable to mourn, unable to move on, and often unable to access basic rights without proof of what happened to those they love.
Not knowing the fate and whereabouts of a loved one, also known as ambiguous loss – the pain of not knowing if a loved one is alive or dead - is one of the deepest and most invisible wounds of armed conflict.
Clarifying the fate and whereabouts of missing people is both a humanitarian imperative and a legal obligation under international humanitarian law (IHL). All parties to armed conflict - states and non-state parties alike - must take concrete steps to prevent people from going missing, to search for those who do, and to inform families accordingly.
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