Red Cross: Sudan War Driving Surge in Missing Persons Across Africa

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced, ahead of the International Day of the Disappeared on August 30, that the ongoing conflict in Sudan is a major contributor to the rising number of missing persons across Africa.

According to the ICRC, in 2024, its tracing service received over 7,700 requests for assistance in locating people missing in connection with the civil war in the Northeast African country. This marks a 52% increase compared to 2023.

By the end of 2024, the committee had recorded reports of over 82,000 missing persons in Africa, according to Germany’s news agency (dpa).

The ICRC added that a growing number of tracing requests have come from Chad and South Sudan, where large numbers of Sudanese refugees have fled to escape the war.

The United Nations has reported that more than 12 million people are currently displaced by Sudan’s civil war, which erupted in April 2023—either internally or as refugees in neighboring countries—making it the world’s largest refugee crisis.

Patrick Youssef, the ICRC’s Regional Director for Africa, stated that the number of missing persons recorded represents only a fraction of the actual total.

> “Our teams receive hundreds of messages, emails, and phone calls each week from people searching for loved ones,” Youssef said.

“These inquiries come from all over the world—not only Sudan and neighboring countries but also the United Kingdom, France, and the United States.”

Despite the overwhelming scale of the crisis, efforts to locate missing persons have seen successes. Last year, the ICRC and its partners within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement helped reunite 755 families in Africa and provided more than 5,000 families with reliable information about the whereabouts of their missing relatives.