Fact-check: UN data shows India has more cases of enforced disappearances than Pakistan?
In the South Asia region, Pakistan has the second highest tally of cases of enforced disappearances after Sri Lanka
Updated Thursday Jul 10 2025
A long block of text circulating on WhatsApp claims that globally India has a higher tally of cases of enforced disappearances than Pakistan.
The claim is false and misleading.
Claim
Posts circulating online and in WhatsApp groups allege that the issue of missing persons and enforced disappearances is not unique to Pakistan.
"There are missing persons in India and much more [than Pakistan]. [The number is in] hundreds of thousands," claims the message. The message appears to cite the United Nations' data on enforced disappearances to compare India and Pakistan.
Fact
As per the United Nations' Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances' (WGEID) most recent report, Pakistan has a significantly higher number of reported cases of enforced disappearances compared to India.
The WGEID continuously maintains an updated, case-by-case global tally on enforced or involuntary disappearances from nearly 100 countries.
Geo Fact Check reviewed the WGEID's latest annual report, which includes data up to May 10, 2024, to determine the caseload.
According to the 2024 report, a total of 1,635 cases of enforced disappearance were reported from Pakistan to the UN Working Group between 1980 and May 10, 2024. While from India, 530 cases were reported during the same period. A WGEID spokesperson told Geo Fact Check that the 2025 report was still being processed.
Hence, the tally from Pakistan is much higher than that of India as of now.
In fact, in its 2024 report, the Working Group noted that between May 13, 2023, and May 10, 2024, Pakistan witnessed "an increasing trend of cases of abduction of civilians, followed by their disappearance."
"The number of cases transmitted under the humanitarian procedure to the Government of Pakistan [by the Working Group] increased by 27% over the reporting period, and the number of urgent cases was the highest transmitted in the last five years," it noted.
Also, in the South Asia region, Pakistan has the second highest tally of cases of enforced disappearances after Sri Lanka, as per the UN data. India is fourth.
| Sr No | Country | Outstanding cases (as of May 10, 2024) | Total cases transmitted (1980–2024) |
| 1 | Sri Lanka | 6,282 | 12,873 |
| 2 | Pakistan | 934 | 1,635 |
| 3 | Nepal | 480 | 694 |
| 4 | India | 444 | 530 |
| 5 | Bangladesh | 73 | 91 |
| 6 | Afghanistan | 20 | 21 |
| 7 | Bhutan | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Maldives | 1 | 1 |
It is important to mention that the UN annual reports only document the cases submitted to the Working Group by families and their representatives, which are later transmitted to the respective governments. This tally does not take into account the under-reporting by families of victims. Human rights activists estimate the real numbers to be higher.
International law defines an enforced disappearance as the detention of anyone by state forces or their agents who refuse to acknowledge the detention or whereabouts of the person, placing them outside the protection of the law.
Verdict: UN data shows Pakistan has a significantly higher tally of reported enforced disappearances than India.
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