Cyprus: Working together for Missing Persons

The European Commission recently organised an event to mark the EU’s important contribution to the Committee on the Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus and to acknowledge the importance of the work carried out by the young Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot scientists working there.

Since 2006, the EU has supported the CMP efforts with a financial contribution of €14.7m.

According to an announcement on the happening, opening remarks at the event were made by Normunds Popens, Deputy Director General in the European Commission, Cihan Sultanoglu, Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS, and the three CMP members, Paul-Henri Arni, Nestoras Nestoros and Gülden Plümer Küçük.

During the event the video ‘The faces of the CMP’ was screened, in which the scientists reaffirmed their strong commitment to the project.

All the speakers highlighted the CMP’s very important work as one of the most successful confidence building measure helping to cope with a painful chapter of the history of Cyprus and fostering cooperation.

Since 2006, the work of CMP helped in the return of the remains of 595 missing persons to their families.

The CMP’s humanitarian mandate contributes to providing relief to the families of missing persons and to build trust and confidence amongst Cypriots, paving the way towards reconciliation in Cyprus. The European Commission stands ready to continue its support to this project.

The CMP was established in April 1981 by agreement between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities under the auspices of the UN. This bi-communal committee has the mandate to establish the fate of missing persons without attributing any responsibility for the cause of death.

In order to further improve the trust between the two communities, the project aims to increasingly involve the families of the missing persons in the implementation, adding events all over Cyprus and abroad to the information sessions already carried out in schools.

Tuesday 7 July 2015

http://in-cyprus.com/working-together-for-missing-persons/