RedeVeröffentlicht am 24. September 2025

Missing Persons in Armed Conflict (eng)

New York, 24.09.2025 — Rede von Bundesrat Ignazio Cassis, Vorsteher des Eidgenössischen Departements für auswärtige Angelegenheiten (EDA), anlässlich der UN-High Level Week in New York – Es gilt das gesprochene Wort

_{Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Dear colleagues and friends,}

_{It is an honor to open this high-level discussion on one of the most painful and enduring consequences of armed conflict: the fate of missing persons.}

_{In 2024 alone, the International Committee of the Red Cross registered over 56,000 new missing persons.}

_{Behind each case lies a suspended family, living with uncertainty, and a community struggling to move forward. Those who remain will never find peace without answers.}

_{This is not only a humanitarian tragedy. It is a matter of human dignity.}

_{International Humanitarian Law provides strong rules to reduce suffering in war.}

_{Parties must do everything possible to prevent disappearances, to account for the missing, to inform families, and to investigate violations.}

_{The problem is not the lack of laws and resolutions, but the failure to uphold them.}

_{Ladies and gentlemen}

_{The best way to prevent the enduring anguish of the missing is to act early: by establishing reliable information systems, documenting casualties, treating the dead with dignity, and ensuring that detainees are duly registered and their rights respected.}

_{Where people have already gone missing, resolving these cases requires patience, resources and, above all, strong political will.}

_{This is why today’s dialogue matters: It is a moment to hold parties in conflicts accountable, to reinforce the implementation of their obligations, and to bridge the gap between lofty principles and lived reality.}

_{In this spirit, I would like to highlight the work of the Global Alliance for the Missing, which Switzerland has the privilege to co-chair together with Croatia.}

_{The Alliance brings states from different regions together to raise awareness, to promote preventive measures, and to keep families at the center of responses.}

_{Switzerland also supports projects on the ground, from helping local authorities identify missing persons to strengthening mechanisms that give families answers, even in long-standing conflicts.}

_{Excellencies,}

_{Let us use today’s discussion to advance practical proposals, to reaffirm our shared commitment, and to send a clear message:}

_{Every family has the right to know; and every party to a conflict has the duty to respond.}

_{Thank you.}