Baku missing persons conference calls for cooperation as Ukraine cases mount

Experts and officials at a missing persons conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, called for better cooperation to find and identify people who have disappeared in conflict. The meeting was underway on 7 October. The scale of the task is acute for families affected by the Russia–Ukraine war: the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported 280,000 people still missing in connection with that conflict at the end of September 2026.

The fourth International Conference on Missing Persons brought together government officials, forensic specialists and diplomats to discuss ways to locate missing people and identify the dead. Speakers described a need for dependable information and sustained work with families, alongside forensic tools. The accounts available from the meeting establish calls for action, but no binding agreement or change in government practice.

What the Ukraine missing persons figure shows

The ICRC's Central Tracing Agency Bureau gives the end-of-September figure as people still missing in connection with the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It also reports 841,000 contacts with families of missing people and says 18,400 families have been informed of a loved one's fate or whereabouts. Those figures describe different parts of the agency's work; the number of family contacts is not a count of distinct missing people.

The bureau describes itself as a neutral intermediary between Russia and Ukraine. It collects, analyses, safeguards and transmits information about military personnel and civilians who have fallen into the other party's hands. The ICRC says the search for missing and separated relatives is an obligation for all parties to an armed conflict. It works with Red Cross and Red Crescent partners across 133 countries, including 59 national societies and 50 ICRC delegations.

Why speakers say identification takes more than technology

Christian Rivier, head of the ICRC's Central Tracing Agency, told Euronews that technology helps but cannot by itself turn information into reliable identifications. He said people must interpret the information and follow an investigative medical and legal process designed to avoid misidentification. Lord Brady, a member of the UK House of Lords, told the outlet that technological advances had opened possibilities unavailable in the past.

Forensic anthropologist Luis Bernardo Fondebrider told Euronews that families repeatedly seek justice, reparation, remembrance and an account of what happened. Drawing on work he said he had done in 66 countries over 42 years, he attributed failures to act to a lack of political will by states. He called official speeches about commitment ‘just words.’ That is his assessment, rather than a finding about every government represented at the conference.

Kathryne Bomberger, director-general of the International Commission on Missing Persons, told Report.az at a conference panel that the problem extends beyond any one country. She cited conflict, migration, natural disasters and climate change among the contexts in which people go missing. Bomberger said more than 70,000 migrants were missing in Europe and argued that families need the truth about their relatives, justice and compensation. The migrant figure is her stated estimate in the report.

Azerbaijan’s proposals and the unanswered questions

In a message to conference participants dated 7 October, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said his country officially records 4,010 people as missing from conflicts involving Azerbaijan. He called for access to archives and reliable information, as well as specialist training, technology and regular communication with families. Those are the Azerbaijani government's figure and proposals; the message does not establish that another party has accepted them.

Aliyev also proposed a special United Nations mechanism on missing persons. His message records a request, not the creation of such a mechanism. Across the conference accounts, the unresolved issue is how states will share information and turn identification work into answers for families. The statements reported so far do not demonstrate that the proposed measures have been implemented.