The government of Ireland has donated €25,000 to the Committee of Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP), bringing its total contribution since 2006 to €500,000.

The donation, handed over on Wednesday, will support the CMP’s ongoing efforts to identify and return the remains of missing persons to their families, helping to end decades of uncertainty and anguish for affected relatives across the island.

In a statement, the CMP said the Irish contribution will further its mission of exhumation, identification, and dignified return of human remains, work that has become a symbol of reconciliation between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.

The CMP was established in 1981 through an agreement between the leaders of the two communities, under the auspices of the United Nations, following calls from the UN General Assembly in two separate resolutions. However, its exhumation and identification efforts were only activated in 2006.