Symposium: New Technologies and the Missing Including Victims of Enforced Disappearance: Developing Opportunities and Navigating Risks

Around the world, searchers work to establish the fate and whereabouts of hundreds of thousands of missing persons, including victims of enforced disappearance linked to armed conflict, other situations of violence, or migration. At the same time, digital and emerging technologies are transforming the search for the missing persons. It creates new opportunities while simultaneously introducing new risks.
To support the ongoing search efforts, the Symposium on New Technologies and the Missing, including Victims of Enforced Disappearance co-organized by the ICRC Central Tracing Agency and the ICRC Global Cyber Hub in Luxembourg, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), Luxembourg Aid & Development, and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in association with the Global Alliance for the Missing, convened over 100 representatives from state authorities, search practitioners, investigative institutions, academia, family associations, prosecutors, NGOs, and the private sector across 34 countries. Together, participants examined technological innovations relevant to missing persons searches, identified risks and cases where technology has failed or been misused, and fostered collaboration between practitioners and technology experts. The report summarized the conclusions and key findings from these eight working groups at the thematic Symposium.
 This thematic edition formed an important part of the Symposium series initiated in Luxembourg in 2022 aims to provide an open and safe space under the Chatham House Rule for topics relevant to upholding principled humanitarian action in the digital age.