The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has registered over 284,000 missing persons globally as a results of disasters and armed conflicts, a figure they emphasize by the group as a fraction of the actual number of missing individuals.
GLOBAL TRACKER report that the figure represents only documented cases within the ICRC’s Family Links Network, highlighting the significant humanitarian challenge posed by armed conflicts, disasters, and migration worldwide.
Check by GLOBAL TRACKER revealed that the figure represent only people who were registered as missing with the ICRC by the end of 2024.
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The group outlined Armed conflicts, Migration and disasters as main causes of missing across the global communities.
Meanwhile, ICRC has raised concern over the where about of 23,659 missing persons due to armed conflicts across in Nigeria.
Benson Lee, the Family Link Officer of the ICRC stated this during the commemoration of the 2025 International Day for the disappeared held in Yola at weekend, describing the figure as disturbing.
She said no fewer than 13,595 families are still searching for their loved ones across Nigeria.
Lee stated that, 59 per cent of those missing were minors at the time they disappeared, while 67 per cent of the cases occurred in Borno State stressing that, behind each missing person is a family living in anguish and uncertainty, struggling with the pain of not knowing what happened to their loved ones.
She explained that, the day seeks to promote empathy by highlighting the impact of people going missing has on families and communities.
In the same vein, the United Nations and various organizations like the ICRC and the Syrian Network for Human Rights are working to address the problem through legal commitments, support for victims, and improved search mechanisms.