Pakistan on Monday urged the UN Security Council to accelerate efforts to identify Kuwaiti nationals missing since Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, stressing that families who have waited for decades deserve closure.
“It is a matter of concern that no new identifications were made during the reporting period,” Acting Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Usman Jadoon told the 15-member Council, where delegates agreed on the urgency of establishing the fate of missing Kuwaiti citizens and third-country nationals, returning their remains to their families, as well as Kuwaiti property, to finally overcome the burdensome legacy of the tragic events of 1990–1991.
Welcoming the reaffirmation of mutual respect by “brotherly” Iraq and Kuwait, he said Pakistan hoped this would provide an important foundation for advancing the search for missing persons and the return of property and archives.
“For families who have waited decades to learn the fate of their loved ones, every credible lead holds renewed hope,” the Pakistani delegate said, stressing that this longstanding humanitarian issue required determined and intensified efforts for its resolution.
“We recognise the disappointment over the lack of progress and also acknowledge the difficult circumstances and technical complexities of a search spanning several decades,” he said.
“Efforts to locate and return missing Kuwaiti property, including the national archives, must likewise remain a priority,” Ambassador Jadoon pointed out.
Briefing the Security Council, Mari Yamashita, Senior Representative of the Secretary-General for the Implementation of Security Council resolution 2792 (2025), said that of the original 605 missing Kuwaiti and third-country nationals, the fate of only 290 had been clarified over the past three decades, while 315 remain missing, including 308 from Kuwait. The last identity was confirmed in August 2023.
She recalled visiting Iraq and Kuwait twice and attending, as an observer, two meetings of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)-led Tripartite mechanism.
Extensive efforts have included excavations of 14,000 trenches at the Khamisiyah site, where the Technical Subcommittee is focusing its work, as the site is believed to contain the remains of between 150 and 180 missing Kuwaiti nationals.
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“If confirmed, this would account for at least half of the remaining caseload,” Ms Yamashita said. However, “new witnesses are increasingly difficult to identify”, she said, stressing: “We are running out of time.”
Citing challenges, including a key witness whose accounts differ from his original testimony and who is no longer willing to cooperate, Ms Yamashita expressed regret that “the Government of Iraq was not able to secure his participation”.
