By International Committee of the Red Cross | Created at 2024-09-28 22:47:33 | Updated at 2024-09-30 07:34:54
1 day ago
Two Abkhaz women talk about the last time they saw their family members before they went missing
The Coordination Mechanism on Persons Unaccounted For in Connection with the Events of the 1992–1993 Armed Conflict and After, which has operated since 2010 with support from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), continues working to determine what happened to people, like Eduard and Boris, who went missing in connection with the conflict.
“One day, shortly before he went missing, Boris somehow managed to come home from the front lines. That day, we both somehow knew that this was our last conversation and that only God had control over our destinies,” Mzia Beiya said, thinking back about the last meeting with her husband, Boris Inapshba, who went missing in March 1993.
“Boris and I met as two young people who were both part of an amateur theatre group. We used to stage interesting performances where we would often play the roles of each other’s romantic interests. Soon, the on-stage romance blossomed into real-life love, and were happily together for 13 years before the conflict cut short our love story,” she said.
“As we spoke, he urged me to take care of myself, saying, ‘Our son needs his mother.’ I could only say, ‘Our son needs his father too, so take care of yourself, please.’ As we exchanged these words, he took out a small bouquet of dried flowers from the inner pocket of his jacket, "I wore these flowers for a few days before giving them to you.’ I thanked him and took those dry flowers… the last bouquet from my husband,” Mzia said, reminiscing the cherished memory of their last encounter.
On 21 June 2015, Mzia and her family had the opportunity to bury the remains of Boris in the family cemetery. “Now my soul is calm, because my son knows where his father is buried, and my grandchildren will also know. We know where to go and lay the flowers in his memory,” she said.
So far, under the humanitarian mandate of the Coordination Mechanism, the remains of 539 people have been recovered. 285 of them have been identified and handed over to their families.
