On the day of the missing Lebanon’s mothers still await their loved ones

August 30 marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, while Lebanon continues to carry one of its oldest open wounds: thousands of missing people and families who have spent decades searching for answers.

The Lebanese Civil War left around 17,400 people missing. Some disappeared at checkpoints, in battles, or through kidnappings, while others were linked to Syria and Israel. Their families have remained caught between hoping for their return and searching for remains.

The National Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared estimates that around 700 people may have gone missing or been forcibly disappeared in Syria. After the fall of the Assad regime and the opening of prisons, efforts to uncover their fate returned to the forefront.

The latest Israeli war on Lebanon added new cases of disappearance and detention to a wound that began decades ago.

In 2018, Lebanon passed Law 105, recognizing families’ right to know the fate of their missing relatives. But answers still depend on opening archives, collecting testimonies, investigating graves, and matching remains through DNA.

Every August 30, families return to the same demand: to know what happened to their loved ones.