She was waiting her turn in the office of missing persons in Justice Ministry in Damascus to get any piece of information about her son, who left his home two years ago and had not returned since.
The sad mother wanted to know whether her son is still alive or not. “When I see a video on Television about persons killed by terrorist organizations, I wonder whether my son is among the victims. My son is a civilian. He left his home in Duma district in Damascus countryside and had not returned yet,” she said.
Another woman was searching for information about her 70-year-old husband, who went to get his pension in Harasta suburb in the same province [Damascus countryside] and had not returned.
As many as 400 persons from all provinces gather every Thursday in the 4th floor of ministry of Justice to ask about their missing relatives.
Deputy Justice Minister Judge Taiser al-Smadi told Tishreen newspaper [in Arabic]that all available information about missing persons is being sent to the national security bureau to know whether the person is in a prison or not.
“We receive the reply from the security office in two months…if there are no information about the missing person in the bureau, this means that the person is either in a flashpoint area or his destiny is unknown,” the judge clarified.
He added that a lot of persons have been blackmailed and have paid large amount of money to brokers to get information about their missing relatives.
“The missing persons’ relatives can dial the landline phone No. 131 to know if there is any new information about the missing person,” the judge concluded.
In one way or another, the file of missing person is linked to that of abductees and detainees which has become number one on the priority list of the national reconciliation process that goes hand in hand with the Syrian army’s military operations against terrorist organizations nationwide.
Related link:
http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/society/18260-syrian-abductees-and-detainees-no-1-priority
BasmaQaddour