The UK’s support to the Committee in Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus will continue, the British Minister for Europe Sir Alan Duncan has pledged in a letter to Theresa Villiers MP.
Villiers, a long-standing friend of Cyprus north London Conservative MP had written to the Foreign Secretary at the end of March urging him to maintain the British funding for the CMP.
The letter had followed a meeting between Villiers and the members of a CMP delegation that were visiting London at the time.
In his response, Sir Alan states that the UK values the “important work” of the Committee in identifying the missing and bringing some form of closure to the suffering of many families in Cyprus.
On the matter of funding, he writes that the UK has provided in excess of 300,000 euros to the CMP over the past ten years.
As he notes, this is in addition to the British contribution through the EU, which covers over 80% of the CMP’s total budget.
The Minister for Europe adds that the British government also support the CMP operations through the provision of virtually rent-free accommodation and the deployment of specialist expertise.
He refers to the recent training to CMP staff on investigation skills by a Merseyside Police team.
He then assures Theresa Villiers that these alternative forms of support will continue. He also states that the UK would welcome bids from the CMP for further funding which would be assessed against defined criteria.
