Ireland donates €30,000 to Committee on Missing Persons

Nicosia, Cyprus. Ireland has donated €30,000 to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), the committee announced on Wednesday. The contribution brings Ireland’s total donations to €530,000 since 2006.

Support for identification work

The CMP said the contribution would support its goal of identifying and returning the remains of missing individuals to their families in 2026, helping to end the longstanding uncertainty endured by relatives.

Progress in locating missing people

The committee was established in 1981 and became operational in 2006, with the aim of locating and identifying 2,002 people who went missing during Cyprus’ intercommunal conflicts.

It has so far exhumed 1,719 bodies and identified the remains of 1,082 people on the official list, as well as 217 others.

Of those identified from the official list, 317 were Turkish Cypriots and 765 were Greek Cypriots. A total of 745 Greek Cypriots and 175 Turkish Cypriots remain missing.

Findings this year

So far this year, the remains of four people have been found and 19 people have been identified. Eighteen of those identified were Greek Cypriots and one was a Turkish Cypriot.