Over 82,000 people reported missing across Africa

Over 82,000 people reported missing across Africa

NAIROBI (Xinhua) — The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Wednesday that more than 82,000 people are currently missing across Africa due to armed conflict and violence.

“This figure represents just a small fraction of those who have disappeared,” ICRC Regional Director for Africa Patrick Youssef said in a statement issued in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

The ICRC and its International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement partners facilitated 755 family reunifications on the continent in 2024 and provided definitive news of the whereabouts of loved ones to 5,083 families.

But despite these positive results, the ICRC said the caseload of missing persons it recorded in Africa continues to increase. According to the charity, the conflict in Sudan is the primary reason for this increase, with over 7,700 requests to help locate a missing person in relation to the conflict.

“This figure represents a 52 percent increase compared to 2023, with a growing number of requests coming from neighboring Chad and South Sudan as the countries saw an outpour of people fleeing Sudan,” said the ICRC.

The ICRC called for visibility of the phenomenon of disappearance in Africa and further international efforts to prevent and respond to the issue of missing persons in the region.

It revealed that the number of registered missing persons in Chad rose to 2,577, a 275 percent increase from 2023 figures, and the situation is replicated in South Sudan, where a caseload of 6,597 missing persons represents a 70 percent increase. Both Chad and South Sudan have seen an influx of Sudanese refugees since the beginning of the conflict, according to the charity.

Source: Xinhua

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