The Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) received a donation of €5,000 from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on 10 August 2022. This contribution brings Luxembourg’s financial assistance to the CMP to a total of €8,000 since 2018.
According to a CMP press release, in 2022, these funds will support the CMP Project on the Exhumation, Identification and Return of Remains of Missing Persons in Cyprus with its goal to end the uncertainty which has affected the families for so many years.
It notes that so far, 1,027 missing persons from both Cypriot communities have been identified and returned to their families for dignified burials.
CMP relies on donor support to implement its bi-communal project that alleviates the suffering of the concerned families.
The European Union is the main financial contributor of CMP.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Since then, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown.
A Committee on Missing Persons has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning to their relatives the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots, who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963-1964 and in 1974.
According to statistical data published on the CMP website by August 1, 2022 out of 2002 missing persons 1,185 were exhumed and 1,027 were identified. Out of 1510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 735 were identified and 775 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 292 were identified and 200 are still missing.
Source: Cyprus News Agency