Protection of civilians in armed conflict - Security Council, 9917th meeting

Numbers continue rising six years after Security Council adopted Resolution 2474 (2019) on missing persons in armed conflict, speakers warn, urging action to implement text.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 02:38:48
• Production Date: 15 May 2025
• Asset Language: Arabic; English; French; Russian; Spanish; Chinese; Original
• Personal Subject: MOHAMED KHALED KHIARI
• Corporate Name: INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS - ICRC
• Subject Topical: ARMED CONFLICTS; CIVILIAN PROTECTION; DISAPPEARANCE OF PERSONS; HOSTAGES; PALESTINIAN PEOPLE; CHILDREN; ARMED GROUPS; INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW; JUSTICE
• Geographic Subject: ISRAEL; UKRAINE; REPUBLIC OF KOREA; DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA; GAZA; RUSSIAN FEDERATION
• MAMS Id: 3396825
• Parent Id: 3396114

Description

As the Security Council met today to consider the issue of persons reported missing in armed conflict, speakers — including a woman whose father was abducted during the Korean War and a father whose son’s remains have yet to be returned from the one in Gaza — illustrated that the number of such persons has only continued to increase since the adoption of a resolution on this matter almost six years ago. 

“In 2024 alone, the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] registered 56,000 new cases of missing persons,” said Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations. International humanitarian law, he said, prohibits forced disappearance and requires parties to conflict to take all feasible measures to account for those reported missing, while also enshrining their families’ right to information about their fate. 

Related Sites and Documents

UN Meetings Coverage

S/RES/2474(2019)

S/PV.9917