Syria Confirms Likely Death of Missing Abbasi Children

Syria’s National Commission for Missing Persons has stated that the children of dentist and former chess champion Rania al-Abbasi, who disappeared along with their parents more than a decade ago under the rule of former President Bashar al-Assad, are now believed to be dead.

The fate of the six children, whose disappearance remained unresolved for years, has long stood as a symbol of the suffering endured by families of detainees and victims of enforced disappearances during Assad’s rule, which ended following his ouster in 2024.

Dr. al-Abbasi, a prominent dentist and Syrian chess champion, went missing in March 2013 along with her husband and their six children, who were aged between three and fifteen at the time. Rights groups say government forces raided the family’s home in Damascus shortly before they vanished.

In a statement issued on Friday, the commission said: “We have reached reliable and corroborating results that allow us to conclude with a high degree of professional certainty that Dr Rania al-Abbasi’s children are deceased.”

The body added that its conclusion was based on “multiple verification and analysis procedures” carried out in coordination with national authorities. It also confirmed that efforts to locate the remains are still ongoing.

The commission was established in May 2025 by Syria’s new Islamist authorities to investigate cases of missing and forcibly disappeared persons across the country.