Missing persons in Cyprus: identification process must move faster

The European Parliament Rapporteur on missing persons in Cyprus, Simon Busuttil MEP, has urged all concerned to speed up the process of identifying persons who are still missing in Cyprus following the events that led to the division of the island.

"The European Parliament is allocating more financial resources to this cause in order to keep the identification process going at a healthy pace", Mr Busuttil said during a press conference in Strasbourg. "Once again this year, we have tabled an amendment in the EU budget to allocate €3m for this purpose", he continued, referring to the EU budget.

"Without financial resources, the process would slow down or, at worst, stall. You need money to dig up burial sites, to analyse remains and to conduct genetic tests that may lead to the identification of people."

"This is a highly sensitive subject and a highly humanitarian one. But the European Parliament has risen above politics and retained objectivity", he said, adding that he was personally in communication with representatives from the Greek Cypriot as well as Turkish Cypriot communities. "We have spoken to both sides on the subject", he said.

Simon Busuttil said that in addition to financial resources, the European Parliament is also calling for full access to all zones, including military zones, so that more remains can be discovered and unearthed. Parliament is also calling on the Turkish authorities to provide access to information that may lead to further discoveries.

"My message today is that the European Parliament cares about this issue and is trying to do something about it", concluded Mr Busuttil.