The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has reported that around 284,400 people are currently registered as missing across the globe.
It further revealed that at least 94,000 individuals were added to the missing persons register in 2024 alone.
In a statement released to mark the International Day of the Disappeared, observed annually on August 30, the ICRC noted that the actual number of missing persons is likely much higher than reported.
”In 2024, more than 94,000 people were registered as missing by their families with the Family Links Network, bringing the current number of registered missing people to approximately 284,400.
“From our experience this is only a fraction of the true number of missing people out there,” it said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Family Links Network, a programme of the ICRC, is composed of 192 National Societies, ICRC delegations and the IFRC.
The statement urged stakeholders to promote empathy by highlighting the impact that people going missing had on families and community.
According to it, the issue of missing people, including victims of enforced disappearance, is one of most devastating and long lasting consequences of armed conflict and other violence, disasters and migration.
”Behind each missing person is a family living in anguish and uncertainty, struggling with the pain of not knowing what has happened to their loved one.
”This suffering is compounded by economic, legal, administrative, psychological and psychosocial challenges as well as the need for their suffering to be officially acknowledged and for someone to be held accountable,” it said.
The statement said that Nigeria’s figure was 13,595 families- (68 per cent female), continue searching for 23,659 missing persons, 59 per cent were minors at the time of disappearance, and that 67 per cent occurred in the state of Borno.
According to it, ICRC is a humanitarian organisation dedicated to protecting the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situation of violence.
The statement advocated for families of missing persons not to be stigmatised, accused or excluded for their attempts to clarify the fate and whereabout of their missing persons.
”Solidarity and support initiatives created by families of missing persons should be supported.
”They constantly demonstrate great resilience to overcome the challenges caused by the disappearance”.
The statement said that International Day of the Disappeared was a day to be in solidarity with those seeking to establish the fate and whereabout of their beloved ones.
”As we commemorate this day, we renew our commitment to advocate for the rights of the disappeared, call for increased and continuous efforts to search for missing persons and to provide answers to their families.
”Let us stand together, amplifying the voices of the families of the disappeared and work towards a world where no one must endure the pain of uncertainty.
”Continuous efforts are needed to search for those who are missing and provide information on their fate and whereabout to their families.
”Time does not heal, acknowledgement, answer and respect do,” it said.
