South Ossetia and Abkhazia
In Georgia following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 separatist pressure increased in the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which had enjoyed a measure of autonomy within Georgia during the Soviet era.
Changes of government in Georgia, together with a failure to resolve the status of non-Georgians in the two regions, led to rebellion and war between Georgia and Russia in 2008. In December 2022, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that “since the inception of two coordination mechanisms in 2010 (one working in connection with the 1992–93 armed conflict in Abkhazia and the other one in connection with the armed conflicts of the 1990s and 2008 of South Ossetia), the remains of up to 598 people have been recovered. Of these, the remains of 230 people have been identified and handed over to their families. In total, 2,315 people, including military personnel and civilians, are still reported as missing in connection with the armed conflicts of 1990s and August 2008.”
ICMP and the Georgian State Commission for Missing Persons have sought to examine ways in which official structures can be strengthened to address the missing persons issue effectively.
