Repatriation for Victims of Genocide in Cyprus

The mission of the United Nations (UN) Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) is to recover, identify, and return the remains of 2002 Turkish and Greek Cypriots who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963 to 1964 and 1974. In 2006, the CMP established two Anthropological Laboratories (CAL) in the UN Protected Area of Nicosia. This was so remnants found at mass grave exhumation sites could be analyzed for reconstruction, skeletal examination, and DNA testing. Most Cypriot families have been directly affected by the conflicts and have provided blood samples to help match samples from exhumed bones to determine identity. Once families are notified of the identification of their missing relatives, they are offered the possibility to meet with the anthropologists involved in the identification process in a viewing facility prior to funerary arrangements.

 

I will be volunteering at the UN CMP as a forensic anthropologist from September to November 2022. The UN international team of forensic anthropologists at CAL have assisted in the recovery of 960 victims to their families.  My responsibilities as a forensic anthropologist at CAL include the preparation of remains for analysis, associate individual bones with larger skeletal remains to estimate the biological sex and age of the individual in question, record identifying features such as pathologies or dental characteristics, the cutting of bone samples for DNA extraction, and assisting in the transfer of samples to the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics using scientific protocols.

 

It is an honor to work alongside the UN Commission on Missing Persons in Cyprus and assist in providing some closure to Cypriot genocide survivors and contribute to resolution of the intercommunal conflict between Turkish and Greek Cypriots. This three-month project is self funded. Donations will assist in the cost of the round trip flight, room/board, commuting between Nicosia and the UN-designated neutral zone between Cyprus and the Turkish occupation, and phone service. All additional funds will be donated to the CMP to aid their repatriation efforts. #CyprusStrong  #Genocide #NeverAgain