KUWAIT CITY — Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah received United Nations Senior Representative Mary Yamashita on June 17, 2026, to discuss the file of missing Kuwaiti nationals, property and third-country individuals including the national archives. The meeting came months after Yamashita assumed her role under Security Council Resolution 2792, which established a dedicated mechanism following the closure of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq at the end of 2025. According to a Foreign Ministry statement, Al-Sabah congratulated Yamashita on her appointment and voiced Kuwait’s readiness to collaborate closely on advancing tangible results.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Al-Sabah affirmed Kuwait’s full support for Yamashita’s efforts to carry out her mandate efficiently. He emphasized that achieving progress in determining the fate of the missing and recovering Kuwaiti property would contribute to closing a file with deep national and humanitarian significance. The ministry added that these issues have remained a priority for the state since Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Resolution 2792, adopted unanimously by the Security Council in September 2025, requested the UN secretary-general to appoint a senior representative whose mandate focuses solely on promoting cooperation between Iraq and Kuwait. A subsequent report to the council placed the number of unaccounted for Kuwaiti and third-country nationals at 315, more than three decades after the Gulf War. The resolution also called for the return of Kuwaiti property, including the national archives, and requires the secretary-general to update the council by March 31, 2026, and every six months thereafter.
International Committee of the Red Cross efforts in the Iraq-Kuwait file have facilitated the recovery of remains over the years, though many families continue to await answers. A 2011-2019 ICRC assessment documented that hundreds of cases were clarified through DNA testing and joint investigations, yet the process has faced repeated calls for enhanced coordination on potential burial sites. Kuwait has consistently urged Iraq to fulfill its obligations under relevant UN decisions, according to statements from Kuwaiti officials in Security Council briefings.
Yamashita’s visit marks one of her first official engagements since taking up the position dedicated to this humanitarian file. The Foreign Ministry statement highlighted Kuwait’s expectation that her work will build on previous mechanisms, including the tripartite commission that has operated with participation from the ICRC. Al-Sabah stressed during the meeting that effective implementation would help strengthen mutual trust between the two countries.
Third-country nationals form part of the unresolved cases, many of whom were among the expatriate workforce in Kuwait at the time of the invasion. UN assessments have noted that determining their fate requires sustained information sharing and access to archives from both sides. The resolution explicitly includes these individuals alongside Kuwaiti citizens in the mandate for repatriation or return of remains.
Progress on the property element has included reactivation of a joint Iraq-Kuwait committee on missing assets, which had been dormant since 2014. Security Council Report briefings indicated that this step, confirmed in early 2025, represented a positive development in bilateral engagement. Kuwait has maintained that full resolution of the archives issue remains essential to concluding the overall file.
