International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members • March 25
Some people are sent to places where help is needed most—conflict zones, unstable regions, and communities where safety is uncertain. They are not there to fight. They are there to help.
They are part of humanitarian and international work—staff from the United Nations, aid groups, and NGOs. Their job is to bring food, medicine, and support where systems have already broken down.
But in those same places, that work comes with risk. Some are detained. Some are taken. Some go missing without clear answers.
One of them was Alec Collett, a British journalist working with a United Nations agency in Lebanon. On March 25, 1985, he was abducted while on assignment. Years later, it was confirmed that he had been killed.
His case showed something simple: even those who come to help are not always safe.
And it was not just him. There are others—before and after—who faced the same situation just by being there to do their job.
This is what solidarity means here. Not just knowing about it, but not brushing it off as something far away.
Because even if we are not in those places, the thinking is familiar—we tend to say “that’s far from us” and move on.
But once we start thinking like that, it becomes easier to ignore people who take risks to help others.
Solidarity keeps it simple.
We pay attention.
We do not dismiss it.
We do not act like it does not matter.
They continue to serve. We choose not to ignore it.
⌨ ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ
