Syria's Ongoing Tragedy: Enforced Disappearances Amidst Unrest

Almost 100 individuals have been recorded as abducted or missing in Syria so far this year, with reports of enforced disappearances continuing to rise, according to the U.N. human rights office.

Eleven months after Syria's previous government fell, the U.N. receives troubling accounts of abductions and enforced disappearances, OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Keetan informed the media in Geneva. While the OHCHR has documented at least 97 such incidents since January, the true figure remains elusive.

These recent incidents add to the legacy of more than 100,000 who vanished under former President Bashar al-Assad. Though some families have been reunited after Assad's fall, many are still in darkness about their relatives' fates. Efforts to trace missing individuals are complicated by Syria’s unstable security situation, with people fearing repercussions for speaking out.