At a conference hosted by the United Nations at Katholieke Universiteit KU Leuven University, the focus was on the more than 150,000 people missing since the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, including approximately 3,000 Kurds.

Among the attendees was Farooq Daud, a Kurd from Syrian-Kurdistan (Rojava), arrested in 2014 following an ISIS attack on Rojava. Daud's family continues to search for a missing member, one of the countless affected by the conflict. His cousin disappeared after the 2014 ISIS attack on Kobani, and Daud appealed to both Syrian and international authorities for assistance in locating his relative.

Speaking to Kurdistan 24, Professor Jeremy J. Sarkin emphasized the importance of such conferences, viewing them as an opportunity to address the process, challenges, and potential solutions surrounding the issue of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions. Sarkin expressed hope for the cessation of such practices and emphasized the humanitarian goal of reuniting those alive with their families and providing closure for families of the deceased.

The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 as an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's government, took a critical turn in 2014 with the rise of ISIS, prompting the formation of a global coalition to combat the terror group. The conference aims to shed light on the plight of missing Kurds and seeks collaborative efforts to address the humanitarian crisis arising from the conflict.