Cyprus-Forum.com

[halil]

The Australian government will donate $10,000 to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus investigating the disappearance of about 2,000 Turkish and Greek Cypriots dating back to the 1960s and 1970s.
The donation came during a visit by Australian Special Envoy for Cyprus Jim Short to the anthropology laboratory at the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in the capital Nicosia. The Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus is the only institutionalized bi-communal project on the divided island that brings the two communities together.
This project survives with donations,” said Küçük, adding the United States and Turkey were among the major donors.

Both the Turkish and Greek Cypriots have made serious investments in the project since the committee was established in 1981 but the Turkish Cypriot government has allocated the biggest share for the 2007 budget, putting aside 1.5 million euros out of the 259 million-euro EU financial assistance package.

The 2007 budget of the committee amounts to $2.7 million.

The committee on missing persons is only tasked with finding the missing persons, identifying them and returning their remains to families. It has three members from Turkish Cyprus, Greek Cyprus and the United Nations. All the members are equal and decisions are taken by consensus.