International Day of the Disappeared marked in Tbilisi, four other regions
More than 2,000 persons have been reported to be missing in Georgia as a result of the armed conflicts, with their families facing uncertainty around their fate. Photo: Reconciliation Ministry
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Georgia’s capital Tbilisi and four other regions of the country on Wednesday marked the International Day of the Disappeared, celebrated annually in order to honour messing individuals and to increase public awareness of the issue.
Organised by the Office of the Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, the events involved representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Georgian state agencies and civil society representatives.
Minister Tea Akhvlediani emphasised the importance of the state programme for the search of missing persons and events dedicated to the memory of those missing as a result of armed actions in the territory of the country in the 1990s and the Russia-Georgia war in August 2008, the Minister’s office said.
She said memorials and the commemoration served as a “symbol and a vital message” for the public and emphasised the country would “always remember and never forget their service”.
The Minister also sent condolences to the families and pledged the Ministry would do “everything possible” to locate their loved ones as part of the ongoing state programme run under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Akhvlediani also expressed her gratitude towards participants of events marking the date and representatives of regional and local self-governments for organisational efforts.
More than 2,000 persons have been reported to be missing in Georgia as a result of the armed conflicts, with their families facing uncertainty around their fate.
The security, humanitarian and human rights situation in Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) on the backdrop of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine were in focus of a meeting between Tea Akhvlediani, Georgia’s State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality, Lasha Darsalia, the Deputy Foreign Minister, and Ruslan Abashidze, the Chairman of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia on Thursday.
Thea Akhvlediani, the Georgian State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality, on Thursday said an updated strategy and action plan with regards to the country’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) and Abkhazia regions and the conflict-affected population was expected to “give a new impetus” to the reconciliation process and confidence-building through a “depoliticised dialogue”.
Tea Akhvlediani, the Georgian state minister for reconciliation and civil equality, on Thursday commended the government policy and its “peaceful efforts” to ensure “maximum support” for the conflict-affected population in the Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) and restore “harmonious coexistence” with Abkhaz and Ossetian compatriots.
Tea Akhvlediani, the Georgian state minister for reconciliation and civil equality, on Monday met Peter Fischer, the newly appointed German ambassador, to discuss the Russian occupation of Georgian territories and existing ties between Georgia and Germany, the minister’s office said.
Tea Akhvlediani, Georgia’s State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, on Friday highlighted results achieved in the state policy for civic equality and integration in her comments on the implementation of the related 2021-2030 Action Plan.
Tea Akhvlediani, the Georgian State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality, on Thursday visited the central Shida Kartli region to discuss the needs of the conflict-affected population living near the occupation line separating the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region from the rest of the country, the state body said.
The “difficult” legal and humanitarian situation in the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia were discussed on Monday in a meeting between Tea Akhvlediani, the Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality and a delegation of the Council of Europe.