New York, 12 June 2025 

President of the General Assembly, 

Distinguished delegates,

Excellencies,

To everyone who has someone missing in Syria, 

إلى كل من لديه/ا شخص مفقود في سوريا،

It is an honor to present this first informal briefing to the General Assembly since I took office as the first Head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic in January. It is especially significant for us to have the Syrian delegation with us today, a delegation representing the new Syria.

Just two years ago, this Assembly created a unique institution mandated with a core ethical principle: to bring truth to the families of the missing by looking for their loved ones. We owe this to the families, especially Syrian women who, along with other allies of civil society and of Member States led by Luxembourg, created this Institution. As a Syrian mother told me, “For the first time, families are at the heart of the solution.” 

To them, I say: Your fight for truth and justice, your persistence, and your devotion to your loved ones and your home country have brought hope that we must all embrace. All of us.

كلنا معاً

After long years of serious human rights violations and brutal conflict, Syria stands before a new horizon. While the challenges remain enormous, new opportunities have emerged to look for tens of thousands of missing persons and to jointly embark on the search for truth. 

When I first visited Damascus last February, a sense of hope was palpable, including among the many families of missing persons whom I met. Some of them, like the women in Daraya, did not even know there were other families looking for their loved ones. It was evident that this hope coexists with the deep suffering faced by the vast majority of Syrians who have a missing relative and live in very vulnerable conditions. 

The fate of the missing is not only central to the families but to the Syrian society at large. Addressing this issue is essential for reconciliation and building sustainable peace. Support for families and their participation in clarifying the fate and whereabouts of the missing is indispensable for societal healing.

The speed of daily events in Syria is undeniable, and the international community must rise to the moment and act responsibly. 

Excellencies, 

Building an institution mandated with the titanic mission of searching for thousands of persons is not an easy task, and it takes time. I know from personal experience working on the search for the missing that it requires many steps. This includes creating processes, implementing methodologies, coordinating with all relevant stakeholders, receiving and processing information, and strengthening trust with families, civil society, authorities, and the whole Syrian society. 

Last year, the Independent Institution took important steps to start building these pillars. We hired technical staff, drafted guidelines and plans, mapped actors, events, and locations, and conducted context analysis and lines of inquiry essential for truth-seeking. We created a secure data center and an analysis platform, complemented by a legal framework for processing information. And of course, we invested in advanced technology for search operations and constructed a registry system. Since my appointment, we have had a constructive relationship, and this is very important, with the interim authorities, and conducted several missions in Syria: something unthinkable before December.

Information is vital in the search for the missing, as essential is the need to make it flow in order to open paths to know the whereabouts of thousands of missing persons. While this may seem obvious, it is one of the biggest challenges encountered by those searching for missing persons, not only in Syria but globally. We are collaborating with national and international organizations to access, consolidate, and exchange or interconnect this information.

I thank Syrian and international civil society organizations and victim groups for sharing their invaluable documentation, and international organizations for their commitment to advancing data-sharing agreements in line with their mandates. Our cooperation puts into action the principle of non-duplication for the benefit of families. We aim to expand such agreements with Member States, including, of course, Syria. I also thank every person who has shared their story with us. Shukran. 

The more information we gather, the better the chances we have of finding the missing. Comparing databases is fundamental to looking for everyone at the same time. A detailed understanding of the context enables us to open broader lines of inquiry into multiple disappearances. We have initiated inquiries into missing children, those forcibly disappeared by the former regime, and missing asylum seekers.

I want to make this clear. At present, we are collecting information that would enable us to initiate other possible lines of inquiry, including missing persons who disappeared from Daesh. Opening a line of inquiry does not mean, however, and I want to be clear, that we are not looking for everyone all the time. On the contrary, our mandate - and commitment - is to search for all the missing, without exception. 

The first principle of the search for the missing is the presumption that they are alive. Unfortunately, in case they are not, it is essential to identify them and return them to their families with dignity. Identification is, therefore, another form of search. Comparative and international experiences offer both positive and negative lessons in forensic interventions from which Syria must benefit - and we will ensure that this happens. 

With newly gained access to the country, it is essential to work with all relevant stakeholders through specific methodologies. Simultaneously, we must enhance national capacities, including infrastructure and human resources. The tangible participation of families and civil society in the search for the missing is at the center of our mandate, as the President just said, and we are in daily contact with them. Last month, we issued the nominations for the Institution's first Advisory Board, one of several essential ways we utilize to ensure meaningful participation. I look forward to starting to work with its members soon.

We are developing a comprehensive support strategy that reflects evolving realities inside Syria and across borders. It includes helping to establish a referral system that responds to families’ needs.

We are working to reach every person who has someone missing in Syria. 

The search for the missing must be Syrian-led and internationally supported.

Since my appointment, I have met in Damascus, Brussels, and New York with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, His Excellency Mr. Asaad al-Shaibani. At his request, we shared an initial project outlining our role and potential cooperation with Syrian efforts, which has facilitated constructive discussions. 

More recently, a Presidential Decree created the National Commission for the Missing, which we immediately welcomed, with the mandate to search and clarify the fate of the missing and forcibly disappeared and to provide legal and humanitarian support to their families. I have been in contact with Dr. Mohammad Ridha Jalkhi, the chairperson of the Commission, and we both agreed that we will work together, hand-in-hand, along with all relevant actors.

An essential element for fulfilling our mandate and enhancing cooperation is establishing a presence in Syria, deploying personnel there, and hiring local staff. We have already submitted an official request, and I am hopeful that our discussions with the authorities will progress quickly. 

We collaborate closely with actors across the UN system on Syria, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria.

We have also deepened our cooperation with UN entities that work towards broader justice objectives in Syria, including the Commission of Inquiry and the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), fully acknowledging the confines of our humanitarian role. I thank Commissioner Hany Megally from the Commission of Inquiry for his presence today.

Recently, we have had advanced discussions with many relevant international stakeholders focusing on the issue of missing persons. Their longstanding experience is a critical asset that needs to be part of our collective response. Multilateralism within the international community and organizations is more needed than ever.

One thing is clear, though: no one can alone address the crisis of the missing, and Syrians must lead this process while we stand on their side to support them. I am convinced that the Independent Institution has an important role to play in helping everyone bring their knowledge and experience to the table and work together to support national efforts.

I would stress the continued relevance of the call for the resolution of the General Assembly and the UN Secretary-General on all Member States to cooperate fully with the Independent Institution, in line with their obligations under international law. 

The search for missing persons in Syria is truly a global endeavor. It reaches far beyond Syria’s borders and regional actors who have already shown their commitment. It concerns people of many nationalities. It remains a core humanitarian imperative for all of us. 

Mr. President,

The Independent Institution is being built not only around a fundamentally changed reality in Syria and the region, but also in the context of the UN’s financial situation.

Against this backdrop, the Institution is refining its structure to enhance efficiency and better align resources with programmatic priorities. This includes aiming for the relocation of most positions, preferably to Damascus, pending the authorities’ approval.

While efforts are made to minimize the liquidity impact on mandate delivery, some activities were postponed, and only 30 of our 45 approved positions are currently filled.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my team for their work and commitment. 

We established a Trust Fund in April to support strategic initiatives through voluntary contributions. We thank Germany, which is the first country to have already contributed to this Trust Fund, and we call on other Member States to consider additional contributions at a crucial moment for the Independent Institution and for Syria.

Mr. President, Excellencies, 

Today, we are witnessing the emergence of a new Syria. 

The Independent Institution is keenly aware of this tremendous change. We know that our actions must adapt quickly. Time is of the essence.

Forty years ago, Ikram Antaki, an exiled Syrian poet in my home country, Mexico, wrote that there is a time when women start to resemble their journey through life more than water resembles water. This can also be said for countries. Syria can offer and become a model for the search for the missing. Syrians have every right to expect meaningful progress and to demand answers. They also have the right to build a new Syria for all Syrians. 

In recent months, I have seen how our work can help Syrians regain confidence in the international community, mostly because the Independent Institution was built by them and for them, with the General Assembly. We must continue to build trust with all national stakeholders to develop local capacities, with international support, respectfully and collaboratively. And we must work in the field hand in hand with Syrians.

If we are successful - and I assure you that we will do everything for that to happen - we will be able to bring truth to Syrians, while showing the world that, even in challenging moments, we can deliver concrete responses.

From the local enthusiasm and dreams, from the imagination in the streets of Homs, Qamishli, Aleppo, Suwayda, Idlib, or Damascus, I hope that the Independent Institution can build bridges among all, in the name of all the missing.

As the Arab proverb says: “The path of a thousand miles starts with a step,” and we have taken this step.

وكما يقول المثل العربي: ”طريق الألف ميل يبدأ بخطوة،“ وقد خطونا هذه الخطوة.

Thank you. 

شكراً.

Gracias.