Ireland has donated €30,000 to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP), bringing its total support for the body since 2006 to €530,000.
The CMP said the contribution, received on September 18, will help it identify and return the remains of missing individuals to their families this year, easing the long uncertainty endured by relatives.
So far, 1,085 missing persons from both Cypriot communities have been identified and returned to their families for dignified burials.
The committee was set up in April 1981 under the auspices of the United Nations, by agreement between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. The agreement followed a call for such a mechanism in two UN General Assembly resolutions.
Its project on the exhumation, identification and return of remains became operational in 2006. The European Union remains the project’s main financial contributor.
The CMP said it relies on donor support to carry out its bi-communal work.