Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs
Our Mission
The Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs leads and partners with an inclusive coalition of government and private sector organizations to secure the freedom of U.S. national hostages and wrongful detainees held abroad, support their families, and end the practice of hostage diplomacy.
![Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor [State Department Image]](https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Roger_Carstens_Photo-240x300.jpg)
Has your loved one been arrested or detained abroad?
Contact the Overseas Citizen Services Office
From the U.S. & Canada: 1-888-407-4747
From Overseas: +1 202-501-4444
The Latest
Issuance of Executive Order on Bolstering Ongoing Efforts to Bring Hostages and Wrongfully Detained U.S. Nationals Home
We continue to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to bring home U.S. nationals held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad. Today, the President signed a new executive order (E.O.), which builds on the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, to provide the U.S. government expanded tools to deter and disrupt hostage-taking and wrongful detentions.
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March 24, 2023
Release of Paul Rusesabagina
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March 20, 2023
Release of U.S. Citizen Held Hostage in West Africa
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March 12, 2023
Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Carstens Travel to Qatar