The Secretary-General has released a study “on how to bolster efforts, including through existing measures and mechanisms, to clarify the fate and whereabouts of missing people in the Syrian Arab Republic, identify human remains and provide support to their families”.

Syria is one of the contexts that has the highest numbers of detained, abducted and missing persons in the world.  

I want to express my full support to the families and supporting associations, which have worked with the UN in developing this study, and that have tirelessly led efforts to clarify the fate of their loved ones. This file remains one of my key priorities, based on humanitarian grounds, but also because any credible effort to build trust and confidence amongst the Syrians must include real steps forward on this issue.

I hope that Member States will recognize the value of this study in providing a path forward on this file, that is grounded in the families’ right to know and goes beyond political, geographical, and societal divisions.