Raqqa – 30 August 2025
Today in Raqqa, the Missing Persons’ Families Platform in North and East Syria (MPFP-NES) held an art-documentary exhibition titled “Faces That Endure” to commemorate the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance.
The exhibition featured portraits of the forcibly disappeared, alongside names that remain alive in the memory of their loved ones—ensuring that their presence continues to stand as testimony to an ongoing, unfinished tragedy.
Families from Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Kobani participated, carrying the photos of their missing relatives and renewing their rightful demand for truth, justice, and answers about their fate.
The exhibition also included speeches delivered by activists, human rights defenders, and media representatives, underscoring that the issue of the missing extends beyond the personal suffering of families—it is also a collective public cause, inseparable from human rights, transitional justice, and civil peace. Speakers stressed that absence does not mean being forgotten, and that the right to truth remains inalienable and enduring.
The event went beyond photographs and documentation panels, featuring a special corner where families and visitors wrote heartfelt letters to the missing—words filled with longing and hope, symbolically bridging the present with those who are absent. This space became one of remembrance and testimony, where tears mingled with hope, affirming that memory endures no matter how long the absence.
In its statement, the MPFP-NES emphasized that this symbolic initiative represents a renewed pledge to keep the cause of the missing at the core of public conscience, affirming that the right to truth and justice is timeless and cannot be diminished with time.
The exhibition took place within a complex national context; Following the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024—a pivotal turning point in this issue—regime prisons and detention centers were emptied, and several mass graves containing the remains of victims of enforced disappearance were uncovered. International and Syrian organizations, including victims’ associations, were subsequently able to work on the ground and engage directly with affected families.
Despite these significant developments, thousands of Syrian families continue to endure ongoing enforced disappearances perpetrated by multiple parties to the conflict. The detention facilities of these groups remain inaccessible to independent investigations, while numerous mass graves scattered across the country demand systematic efforts to uncover them and secure justice, accountability and redress for all victims and their families.
The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, is observed annually on 30 August to highlight the devastating impact of this crime, to demand accountability, and to ensure non-repetition. Estimates indicate that more than 130,000 persons are missing in Syria, reflecting a humanitarian catastrophe that has left deep emotional voids and imposed heavy economic, psychological, and social burdens on victims’ families and communities.
The Missing Persons’ Families Platform in North and East Syria (MPFP-NES) brings together around 700 families who have lost one or more of their relatives. The MPFP-NES works to organize and empower these families, enabling them to represent themselves and strengthening the participation of victims, survivors, and their families in efforts to seek the truth and achieve justice.