Since 2011, Syria has been the scene of a global proxy war that has claimed the lives of more than 500,000 people. Another 13 million have either fled the country or been displaced within the country's borders. Over 100,000 people are also listed as missing. The unknown fate of the disappeared is one of the greatest tragedies of the Syrian war.

To deal with finding missing people, the United Nations wants to create a new institution. The formation of the "Independent Institution for Disappeared Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic" was decided at the UN General Assembly in New York. The organization is thus complying with demands from affected families and human rights groups. After 12 years of conflict and violence, little progress has been made to alleviate the suffering of the families. These expected answers about the fate and whereabouts of the missing are stated in a corresponding resolution, which was adopted by the General Assembly by 83 votes in favor, 11 against and 62 abstentions.

The establishment of the new UN mechanism was positively received in the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria.

The Syrian Democratic Council (MSD or SDC) released a statement welcoming the decision of the United Nations General Assembly and expressing its full readiness to provide all kinds of support for all endeavors that would end the Syrian crisis.

The Committee of Displaced Persons from Serêkaniyê (Komîteya Koçberên Serêkaniyê) hailed the resolution as a "long overdue but welcome step" towards justice, saying: “It is extremely important that an international institution is formed that focuses on the whereabouts of the missing Syrians. At least as important is the promotion of a serious, impartial and transparent investigation so that the fate of the missing can be clarified and those responsible can be found and punished.”

The Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) announced the establishment of Missing Persons Committee in North and East Syria on Tuesday.

According to the AANES statement, the decision to establish the committee was made in accordance with United Nations General Assembly resolution A/77/L79.

AANES believes in the necessity of resolving humanitarian issues that were an inevitable result of the ongoing conflict on Syrian land, and the issue of missing persons for 2 main reasons:

The first reason is the extent of the pain that the families of missing persons experience at every moment of the loss of their loved ones, the rights of these missing persons and their families and to clarify their fate.

The second reason is the importance of resolving the issue in accordance with the necessity of resolving the Syrian crisis in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions, especially Security Council Resolution No. 2254 of 2015, as well as Resolution No. 2474 of 2019.

"The Committee on Missing Persons in North and East Syria consists of a group of lawyers and a central committee based in the city of Qamishlo and sub-committees in various AANES areas. The committee coordinates and cooperates with the concerned authorities to search and follow up the fate of missing persons from the areas of the AANES since the beginning of the Syrian crisis with the parties to the conflict in Syria, without discrimination of gender, nationality, religion or sect," said the AANES statement, adding that the date of the start of the committee's work and how to communicate with it will be announced later.