TARHUNA & TAWERGHA — Families in Tarhuna and Tawergha who have spent years seeking answers about missing relatives received practical legal guidance and information on psychosocial support during outreach sessions in September organised by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
During the sessions, which were attended by 50 family members, lawyers explained how to report a disappearance and follow up with judicial authorities, how to approach the General Authority for the Search and Identification of Missing Persons (GASIMP) about DNA sampling and identification, and how to obtain civil documentation such as death certificates, claim compensation, and request the recovery and return of remains.
The sessions also addressed the emotional toll of living for years without answers. Psychosocial specialists outlined the individual and group support available and invited families to discuss their needs. They noted that families of missing persons endure a particular kind of pain, often described as "ambiguous loss", which prevents them from grieving. Psychosocial support cannot bring a missing person home or end a family's search, but it can offer a safe space to be heard and ease some of the isolation that prolonged uncertainty creates.
In Tarhuna, families are still seeking answers about relatives who disappeared during the years of violence documented in a joint report published by UNSMIL and the Officer of the United Nations Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) published in 2024. Despite sustained efforts to excavate mass graves since 2020, more than 60 people remain missing,
"How is psychosocial support going to stop me crying every night when my son has not come home in seven years?" asked a father in Tarhuna.
But by the end of the discussion, he was open to the idea that speaking about his grief, and being listened to, could bring him some relief.
In Tawergha, where families are still searching for relatives missing since the 2011 conflict, 15 years ago,
A mother said she had lost hope in the justice system and has been waiting for only one thing since her son disappeared
"I just want a part of my son's remains, so I can bury him and finally have some peace,” she said.
