The EU has contributed since 2006 the amount of 30,7 million euros to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) and remains the Committee’s largest and most regular donor. This support has led so far to the exhumation, identification and return of 1,006 of the 2,002 missing persons in Cyprus to their families for dignified burials, the Committee has said.
A European Commission delegation led by Director-General for Structural Reform Support, Mario Nava, held discussions on Tuesday with the three members of CM at the Committee`s Anthropological Laboratory.
The CMP press release noted that Director-General Nava reaffirmed the European Union Aid Program’s long-term financial support to CMP’s bicommunal project, which is helping Cypriot families to heal deep wounds from the past.
“The EU’s contribution made it possible to first launch and now sustain CMP’s operations. Since 2006, the EU has contributed EUR 30,7 million to CMP and remains the Committee’s largest and most regular donor. In 2021 alone, the EU committed EUR 2.6 million. This level of generous support has led so far to the exhumation, identification and return of 1,006 of the 2,002 missing persons in Cyprus to their families for dignified burials,” CMP said.
The CMP members expressed their gratitude to Director-General Nava for the EU’s ongoing support and informed him that the Committee is presently intensifying its efforts to locate new burial sites across the island.
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 the remains of missing persons to their relatives.