Cyprus is adopting advanced technology—including artificial intelligence, digital mapping, and outreach—to help locate hundreds of people missing from the 1960s and the 1974 conflict. The Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), a UN-backed body with Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot, and UN representatives, unveiled its 2025–2030 strategy aiming to speed up identifications and improve accuracy.

Despite progress—309 excavations and 78 sets of remains recovered between 2021–2024—over 300 potential burial sites remain unexplored. The CMP’s success rate is around 14%, hindered by vague or outdated witness accounts.

The new strategy includes:

• Digitising archives and using AI to find links in old documents and statements.
• A shared digital system by 2026 to track cases and use satellite imagery.
• Greater use of ground-penetrating radar to reduce unnecessary digs.
• Outreach to diaspora, retired peacekeepers, and the public for new leads.

Scientific advances like isotope analysis and expanded lab partnerships are also being used for identification when DNA is insufficient.

Despite improvements, CMP members acknowledge that not all missing persons will be found. However, they remain committed to continuing the search indefinitely, emphasizing that even small pieces of information from the public can make a difference.