The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has revealed a staggering 70% increase in the number of missing persons over the past five years, with cases soaring from 169,500 in 2019 to 284,400 by the end of 2024. The primary drivers of this surge: intensifying armed conflicts in regions including Sudan, Gaza, and Ukraine, compounded by widespread mass migration.
Pierre Krähenbühl, Director General of the ICRC, stressed that these figures underline a critical decline in adherence to the protections established by the Geneva Conventions. He called for stronger measures to prevent separations, safeguard detainees, and appropriately manage the deceased, to spare countless families from enduring years of torment. Despite these challenges, the ICRC’s tracing efforts made strides: in the previous year, the organization successfully located 16,000 missing individuals.
Further underscoring the crisis, recent UN data indicates that over 56,000 new cases were registered by the ICRC in 2024, marking the highest annual spike recorded in at least two decades. The total number of missing persons currently being tracked by the organization now nears 255,000. The dramatic rise stems from a surge in armed conflicts—now numbering over 120 globally—and systematic violations of humanitarian principles, including unreported detentions, failure to share information on captured or deceased individuals, and impaired communication channels during crises.
The Ukraine conflict has been particularly impactful. According to the ICRC, reported missing cases in the Russia–Ukraine war doubled in one year—from 23,000 in 2023 to around 50,000 in 2024, with roughly 90% being military personnel. This alarming escalation was attributed to both the intensifying conflict and improved family reporting systems, such as online documentation tools. Moreover, since 2022, the ICRC has received 16,000 notifications from both Ukraine and Russia about individuals detained by the opposing side.
As these trends persist, the ICRC continues to urge governments, combatants, and their supporters to recommit to international humanitarian law. Only then can the devastating cycle of disappearances be halted and families spared a lifetime of uncertainty and grief.
