ICRC report on Non-State Armed Groups and the Separated, Missing and Dead

Today, around 130 non-State armed groups (NSAGs) are parties to armed conflicts, and as a result of the unprecedentedly high number of armed conflicts around the world, hundreds of thousands of families are separated. In many cases, communication lines are completely cut, leading to a total breakdown in family contact. At the same time, the number of missing people continues to grow: in 2024 alone, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) registered more than 56,000 new missing persons cases across the world, the highest yearly increase in at least two decades, resulting in a current total of nearly 255,000 cases that the ICRC is actively following up on. Detainees are often held without their personal details being registered or their detention being communicated to their families. Moreover, the dead are not always treated with respect and at times become “bargaining chips” between warring parties, impeding identification efforts and the return of the deceased to their families. As a result, families suffer great anguish not knowing where family members are or whether they are alive or dead. Not knowing the fate or whereabouts of a loved one and not being able to mourn the dead are some of the deepest unseen wounds of armed conflict.