Georgian Government Sets Up Interagency for MIA’s to be Repatriated

"The Georgian Administration has set up a transnational agency to search for and hand over the bodies of persons missing in action (MIA)," Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili told correspondents.

She added that 10 distinctive agencies will unite in the commission and its focus will be to conduct thorough and corresponding effort to ascertain the whereabouts of 2300 missing persons. These people who were lost in armed battles are soldiers from both sides and the conflict timeline spans from the 1990s (Abkhazian War) to 2008 (South-Ossetian War).   

“By the decree of the Georgian government, an interagency commission has been set up to search for and transfer the bodies of persons missing after armed conflicts. The commission comprises ten different agencies involved in this very important humanitarian process," Tsikhelashvili said. "We can tell you that as a result of the armed conflicts between 1990 and 2008, about 2 500 people have gone missing. Since 2010, two mechanisms have been operating under the auspices of the Red Cross: the Georgian-Abkhazian and the Georgian-Russian-Ossetian mechanisms, as a result of which, 187 burial sights have been opened so far and 178 persons have been identified, the remains of which have been transferred to their families. However, about 2300 people still remain missing, which is a very large figure."

The Minister noted their commitment to making even more effective effort "of course, together with the Red Cross, which plays a very important role in this process”, the Minister stated.

By Beka Alexishvili