Speech

The unanimous adoption of this resolution demonstrates our shared commitment to locate and return missing Kuwaiti and third-country nationals: UK explanation of vote at the UN Security Council

UK explanation of vote delivered by Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, following the UN Security Council vote on the draft resolution on Missing Persons in Iraq and Kuwait.

The United Kingdom welcomes the unanimous support shown by Council Members for this resolution.

We welcome the Council’s decision to authorise a Senior Representative with a mandate to support cooperation to locate and return missing Kuwaiti and third-country nationals, and missing Kuwaiti property.

We hope the implementation of this resolution will support positive progress to resolve the fate of the missing. In doing so, we hope it will further build and deepen trust between Iraq and Kuwait. 

The United Kingdom stands ready to support these endeavours, including as a member of the Tripartite Commission.

The UK thanks all Council members for their flexible and cooperative approach to negotiating this resolution. 

The unanimous adoption demonstrates our shared commitment to the humanitarian imperative of enabling families to know the fate of their loved ones following conflicts.

We also thank the parties for their constructive engagement throughout this process, and we encourage continued constructive engagement in that same spirit with the Senior Representative once appointed.

Updates to this page

Published 17 September 2025