Independent institution says families drove creation, reports 75,000 documents processed

Carla Quintana, head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria, opened a UN briefing by stressing that the office was created at families' request and exists to give them answers.

"The institution exists because of the families," Quintana said, adding that the office has "processed more than 75,000 documents," a ninefold increase from the prior year. She said those records are being used to build systems to analyze and share information with families in Syria and the diaspora in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Germany.

Quintana framed the work as both humanitarian and essential to stabilization and peacebuilding, and she said the institution treats "missing" as a broad concept that covers forced disappearances, migration-related losses and children gone missing. She warned that expectations must be managed: some leads will yield reunifications, while others require careful verification before families are notified.

The briefing noted the institution's cooperation with other UN entities and civil society while stressing that establishing procedures and trust with national authorities will take years.

The office highlighted its mandate and early achievements but did not provide a single official national total for the number of missing Syrians; Quintana said official estimates range widely and remain under study.