I've been watching and reading this article about Cyprus' Missing Persons from the UNIFEED website.
http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/d/13491.html
Tells the story of the discovery of two missing persons (one from each side). And demonstrated to me that every individual case is a deep tragedy, and that quoting 'numbers' of dead or missing to score points means nothing. They say:
'The agony of losing a loved one is unbearable, no matter the circumstances. But imagine waiting decades to find out how a member of your family died. That's been the plight of people on both sides of the divided island nation of Cyprus. But soon, those harrowing mysteries may be solved.'
Despite the combined hard work and sophisticated new methods used, in both these cases, the bodies were discovered because a person from the 'other side' who had knowledge made that knowledge known.
It must be the case that there are many more people on both sides who could give information to put the minds of those whose loved ones are 'missing' to rest. But also occurs to me that, before long, all who were adults at the time and who have first hand reliable information will be dead and gone so there will not be the opportunity to find loved ones provided by information given in this way.
I doubt anyone who has a family member still considered 'missing' will be able to move on and forget the past. Even if they know they must be dead by now. It's cruel in the extreme for anyone who has knowledge of the whereabouts of these people not to pass it on. I mean, they could do it anonymously if they were worried about consequences from their 'own side'.
