Migrant families in Panama demand states lead search for the disappeared

In Panama City, families and organizations united to demand action and improved search efforts for migrants who vanished while en route to the United States. The regional meeting, convened by the Ombudsman's Office with UN and NGO participation, aimed to address the critical issue of missing migrants and the obligations of states in these cases.

Speakers emphasized that families have endured years of searching for loved ones, a burden that should not fall solely on them. "Let the victims not carry the responsibility of searching for their relatives on their backs, but rather highlight the responsibility of the states, who are signatories to international human rights conventions, precisely to ensure these cases do not expire and that the search for these people who have not appeared for many years continues," stated Ángela Russo, the Ombudsman.

Honduran national Marcia Martínez shared her family's harrowing experience after her sister disappeared. After 21 years, she found her sister by chance through social media, a process also aided by the activism of families searching for missing persons. Martínez stressed that such cases prove hope should not be lost and that organizations will persist until all missing individuals are found. "We exist, people who have had missing persons, who have had a response, we have found each other, and that is what we must do: find them. We, as a committee, say our committee will disappear only when we find the last missing person," she declared.

Carmen Villa of the Committee against Forced Disappearances acknowledged the ongoing challenge of finding missing migrants, noting that some families search for decades without knowing their loved ones' fate. "It will always be a challenge. There are people who search for their relatives for decades without knowing what happened to them, and the obligation to search is not the families' responsibility; it is the states' obligation. States must search for disappeared persons," she asserted. The meeting also underscored the importance of building search protocols and mechanisms based on the firsthand experiences of victims' families, who understand the difficulties involved. Panama's Ombudsman reminded attendees of the country's specific responsibilities, given its role as a transit territory for thousands of migrants.