Where Are Our Children? – Over 1000 Families of Missing Persons Await Answers

In Armenia, there are around 1000 families of missing persons, yet August 30, the International Day of the Disappeared, is not officially recognized at the state level. This was announced on August 28 during a press conference by Gor Muradyan, the uncle of Henry Muradyan, who went missing in 2020.

According to him, last year, families of the missing organized an event on their own, focusing primarily on legal issues. This year, the discussion will center on the psychological state of the families of the missing and the experiences of the parents.

“We need to convey the experience of the parents from the stage. The event will take place at the Cinema House, and I hope we will all raise our voices and inform the public, because the issue of missing persons is very little heard in the republic,” Muradyan said.

He also expressed dissatisfaction that the issue of missing persons does not receive sufficient attention in public and political discussions. “We discuss every issue, we talk about prisoners, about forced disappearances, about those forcibly displaced, but mysteriously, there are no questions about the missing persons addressed to the Prime Minister. And since no questions are asked, of course, there are no answers,” he stated, urging the media to cover the planned event at the Cinema House on August 30.

At the same time, relatives and parents of missing persons from the events of the 1990s, as well as from 2020 and 2023, have decided to unite and create an association. “Every year we tried separately to find out the fates of our children – where are our children? We decided to unite and create this association,” said the relatives of the missing.

The newly formed association aims to bring together the families of over 1000 missing persons on a single platform and work collaboratively to clarify the fates of their relatives. According to the representatives of the association, certain successes were recorded in the search for missing persons during Kamo Abazyan’s tenure. However, since his departure, two meetings have been held, and there have been no concrete changes so far.

They have reported that negotiations regarding missing persons continue, and relevant committees are also cooperating. The relatives hope that search efforts will resume, leading to the acquisition of new information regarding the fates of the missing persons.

“We hope that the search efforts will start. God willing, we will find all our children alive,” stated the relatives of the missing.