United Nations General Assembly - Informal meeting of the plenary to hear a briefing by the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMP)

New York, 12 June 2025

Statement by H.E. Mr. Olivier Maes

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg

on behalf of the IIMP core group members – Albania, Belgium, Cabo Verde, Costa Rica,

Dominican Republic, North Macedonia and Luxembourg

Mr. President,

I have the honor to speak on behalf of Albania, Belgium, Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, North Macedonia and my own country, Luxembourg, the members of the core group that presented the resolution to create the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMP) in June 2023. This milestone General Assembly resolution, resolution 77/301, carried significant hope for the thousands of families of missing persons that were the driving force behind this initiative.

I thank you, Mr. President for convening today’s meeting, and we are very grateful for the detailed briefing by the Head of the IIMP, Ms. Karla Quintana at this pivotal moment. We warmly welcome Ms. Quintana, we commend her for her active leadership of the IIMP since her appointment in December last year, and we thank her staff for their dedication.

While at the time of its creation, access to Syria seemed far away, the IIMP was uniquely designed to be able to evolve into a hybrid or Syrian national institution in the future, when circumstances would allow. The idea is for the IIMP to support a Syrian-owned and Syrian-led process, in close cooperation with the government and all relevant actors, ensuring that Syria’s future is shaped, first and foremost, by the people in Syria. In this context, we welcome the creation of the National Commission for Missing Persons in Syria and the appointment of Mr. Muhammad Redha Jalkhi as its Head, as was explained by the distinguished Permanent Representative of Syria in today’s meeting.

We also welcome that Ms. Quintana underlined the readiness of the Independent Institution to closely work with the National Commission towards a Syrian-led and internationally supported search effort.

The timely establishment of an IIMP office in Damascus enabling it to start its operations in the country would be an important next step. Through such a presence, the IIMP will be able to provide robust support to Syrian authorities in their effort to address the crisis of missing persons and facilitate coordination among international actors involved in the search and support to families. Ultimately, it can help enhance Syrian capacity and resources.

Important work has already been done by other actors – both Syrian and international – to address the crisis of missing persons in Syria. That is why the founding resolution called for the IIMP to work “in close cooperation and complementarity with all relevant actors”. We underline here again the IIMPs’ role in facilitating coordination among relevant actors. The scale of the work needed is huge and can only be addressed if everyone works together.

Mr. President,

We cannot recall often enough that the Independent Institution was created by families and for families. Its mandate explicitly calls for it to apply a victim/survivor-centred approach and to be guided by such principles as gender inclusivity, non-discrimination, “do no harm,” independence, impartiality, transparency, and confidentiality. One other important element for all actors in Syria including the IIMP is to reduce the risk of re-traumatization.

We owe it to the Syrian families, with whom we worked closely, to make sure that the IIMP has the access and the resources it needs to implement its important mandate given by the General Assembly and that it can have a real impact on the ground. As you said, Ms. Quintana, Syria can become a model on how to address the crucial question of missing persons all over the world.

The IIMP, the Syrians and the families of the missing can continue to count on our full support.

I thank you.