Following the fall of the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria on 8 December 2024, amid immense joy, many families of disappeared people were also thrust into a new form of agony. When detention centres and prisons were opened, images of people forcibly disappeared inside Syria’s notorious prison system who were finally freed and able to return home flooded mobile phones. But, for the majority of families, the loved ones they had waited years for did not emerge. Nine months later, families of those forcibly disappeared by the former government, as well as those disappeared by armed groups, are continuing their long struggle to uncover the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones. They want to know what happened to them, to recover the remains of those that died, and to see those responsible held to account.
