Security Council to call for more cooperation on missing persons

Members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) have agreed on the draft of the Resolution for the renewal of the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus, UNFICYP that will be adopted on Thursday.

According to CNA, there are minor changes in the draft resolution that is considered a “technical rollover” on the previous resolution.

The changes include a reference by the UNSC to welcoming the “good progress” in the Cyprus negotiations.

A welcoming of moves to allow the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) access to 30 additional suspected burial sites in military areas in north Cyprus is also now included.

The UNSC also urges the opening of crossing points already agreed upon and others, and is to approve an increase in the force from the current 860 troops to 888.

CNA said much of the consultations among the Permanent Members of the Council, Russia, Britain, the US, France and China, known as the P5, involved the paragraph on the missing persons, where Russia insisted on a more direct call on Turkey to provide more access.

Commending the work of the Committee on Missing Persons, highlighting the importance of intensifying its activities, noting that nearly half of all missing persons have yet to be located and around 69% have yet to be identified, the UNSC welcomes moves to allow the Committee access to 30 additional suspected burial sites in military areas in the north of Cyprus, urging the opening up of access to all areas expeditiously to allow the Committee to carry out its work, and trusting that this process will promote reconciliation between the communities, according to the draft.

The resolution welcomes the joint appeal for information issued by the two leaders on May 28, 2015, “and calls upon all parties to provide more expeditious, full access to all areas, given the need to intensify the Committee’s work”.

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