UK urges fresh efforts to identify 315 people still missing after Iraq-Kuwait conflict
At the UN Security Council, the UK called for witness appeals, practical measures of progress and renewed talks on missing Kuwaiti property.
The UK urged Iraq, Kuwait and the Tripartite Commission at a UN Security Council meeting in New York on 26 October to intensify efforts to establish the fate of 315 Kuwaiti and third-country nationals still missing from the 1990–91 conflict. According to a statement published by the UK government, no new identifications had been made since the UN Secretary-General’s previous report, leaving families without answers.
Ambassador Kate Foster, the UK’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, said the search remained a humanitarian obligation. The UK is a member of the Tripartite Commission, which works with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Secretary-General’s Senior Representative on the missing persons issue.
Why witness information still matters
Foster welcomed DNA analysis, geospatial tools, a revised communications strategy and renewed appeals for witnesses. But she said credible witness accounts were essential and urged those involved to identify potential witnesses and pursue every credible lead. The number of people who might hold relevant information will diminish with time, she warned.
The UN Senior Representative told the Security Council that 315 people remained missing, including 308 from Kuwait, out of 605 whose fate was unresolved after Iraq’s 1990 invasion. She said Iraqi authorities and the Red Cross undertook a joint field mission to the Khamisiyah site in September, and expressed hope that its findings would lead to excavation work.
The Senior Representative also described a targeted public appeal launched by Iraq on 30 August with Red Cross support, seeking information in communities near areas of interest. Iraq announced in July that it had approved Red Cross interviews with eight of nine identified witnesses from the former regime, she said, but those interviews had yet to take place at the time of her briefing.
Progress measures and missing Kuwaiti property
Foster called on the Tripartite Commission to agree practical indicators for measuring progress ahead of a Security Council review in 2028. The UK also urged renewed engagement over missing Kuwaiti property, including the national archives, and the resumption of the Joint Committee charged with that issue.
The Senior Representative said a meeting between Kuwait’s Crown Prince and Iraq’s Prime Minister on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly was followed by an announcement of a working group on outstanding bilateral issues. Foster said the mechanism established by Security Council Resolution 2792 offered a way to sustain cooperation between the two countries.
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Sources and context
- The United Kingdom remains committed to working with Iraq, Kuwait, and the Tripartite Commission to provide answers for families of missing loved ones: UK statement at the UN Security CouncilForeign, Commonwealth & Development Office; Kate Foster OBE
- Remarks by Senior Representative for implementation of Security Council resolution 2792 (2025) to the Security Council [as delivered]United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
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