Missing Migrants and Refugees
It is estimated that more than 73,500 migrants are missing globally, with the highest number in the Mediterranean region, where more than 31,500 migrants have gone missing since 2014.
The Joint Process
ICMP has taken steps to secure the participation of authorities in Europe in efforts to build a more effective response to the issue of missing migrants and refugees. Meeting in Rome at ICMP’s invitation on 11 June 2018, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Malta launched a Joint Process to enhance domestic capabilities and expand cooperation.
Following agreements reached in Rome, ICMP conducted an assessment and produced a draft set of “Proposals for Action”, which were presented at the second meeting of the Joint Process, in June 2019. The third meeting, in November 2021, highlighted the need to enhance a centralized data capability conducive to solving cases of missing migrants across jurisdictions through the engagement of focal points in each country.
ICMP's Inter-Agency Initiatives on Missing Migrants and Refugees Worldwide
Inter-agency cooperation has been at the center of ICMP’s work on the Missing Migrants and Refugees issue. In January 2016, together with the mission of the UK to the UN, ICMP brought together senior diplomats and experts at the UN Security Council, in the Arria Formula, to discuss core aspects of the global missing persons issue, including persons missing in the context of migration. Since then, ICMP has conducted five topical Inter-Agency roundtables and facilitated a Missing Migrants and Refugees consultative group involving international and other organizations, with a view to providing assistance to the Joint Process countries in their efforts to deal with the missing migrants and refugees issue. One recurrent theme that has emerged from these discussions is the need to enhance data sharing and break data silos.
In the context of Ukraine, ICMP is working with Ukrainian refugees residing in neighboring countries and other countries in Europe hosting large numbers of refugees to collect data to help locate missing persons both inside and outside of Ukraine.
