More than 180 people reported missing in South Sudan since January, according to the ICRC. — Courtesy.

More than 180 people have gone missing in South Sudan since January due to ongoing conflict and violence, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the South Sudan Red Cross.

In a joint statement issued this afternoon ahead of the International Day of the Disappeared, the two organisations said the cases were documented between January and June 2026.

They said the fate of 188 missing people was clarified during the same period.

However, more than 6,200 missing persons cases remain active across the country.

The organisations say the continued disappearances are causing trauma and uncertainty for families searching for their loved ones.

ICRC Head of Delegation, Daniel Bunnskog, says thousands of people have gone missing in South Sudan due to prolonged armed conflict and violence.

Bunnskog says the disappearances have left families in painful uncertainty for years and decades.

“Thousands of people – sons, fathers, mothers and daughters – have gone missing in South Sudan due to protracted and devastating armed conflict and violence. Many of them never returned and have never been heard from again, leaving families in painstaking uncertainty for years, or even decades, unable to grieve, find closure or rebuild their lives,” says the ICRC Head of Delegation, Daniel Bunnskog.

“Society can help by continuing to show compassion, empathy, and support towards families struggling to find answers about the fate of missing relatives,” added Mr. Bunnskog.

South Sudan Red Cross Secretary General, John Lobor, appealed to the public to support efforts to trace missing people.

“The public is part and parcel of the search process; there is a need to join hands to work together and provide the needed answers to the families of the missing,” declares John Lobor, the Secretary General of the SSRC.

“The search for the missing persons is a deeply emotional journey whose results take time, and it needs patience and endurance,” John explained.

The ICRC and SSRC are calling on parties to conflicts to respect international humanitarian and human rights laws to help prevent people from going missing.

They also say families have the right to know the fate and whereabouts of their missing loved ones.

The International Day of the Disappeared is observed every 30th of August.

This year’s commemoration is being held under the theme, ‘Together in hope, united in love.’