The key facts

  • UN urged Iraq and Kuwait to speed up efforts to establish the fate of 315 missing persons
  • The fate of 290 of the 605 missing has been established over three decades; the latest identification was in August 2023
  • About 14,000 trenches have been excavated at the Khamisiyah site, where the remains of an estimated 150–180 Kuwaitis may lie

UN: humanitarian file remains unresolved

The UN on Monday called on Iraq and Kuwait to step up efforts to establish the fate of 315 people missing since Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Senior UN official Mari Yamashita told the Security Council meeting: 'More than thirty-five years after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, this humanitarian file remains unresolved,' the agency reported Anadolu Agency.

What has been established over three decades

According to Yamashita, the fate of 290 of the original 605 missing Kuwaitis and third-country nationals has been established over the past three decades. Of the 315 people whose fate remains unknown, 308 are Kuwaiti citizens. The most recent confirmed identification took place in August 2023.

Excavations and the Khamisiyah site

Large-scale efforts to locate the missing are under way, including excavations at presumed burial sites across Iraq, especially in the south of the country. According to Yamashita, the Iraqi authorities have excavated about 14,000 trenches at the Khamisiyah site and carried out numerous field missions to other locations. Khamisiyah remains a priority: investigators believe the remains of 150–180 missing Kuwaitis may lie there — potentially about half of the unresolved cases. In September, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Iraqi authorities conducted a joint field mission to the site, and Yamashita expressed hope that its results would lead to the early resumption of excavations.

Kuwaiti archives and bilateral dialogue

The issue of Kuwaiti property removed during the invasion, including the country's national archives, also remains unresolved. Yamashita noted that although some materials have been returned, progress is 'limited': items were handed over to the Kuwait National Library in 2019 and the Ministry of Information in 2022, and in 2025 additional books and microfilms were returned. She called for developing a 'clear path' for the search for the remaining property and proposed the proposed joint Iraqi-Kuwaiti committee as a framework for regular dialogue. Yamashita also welcomed the recent meeting between the Crown Prince of Kuwait and the Prime Minister of Iraq on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, where the two countries announced the creation of a working group on outstanding bilateral issues.